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Coming up with innovative product ideas that differentiate your business from competitors isn’t easy. By collaborating with other innovative companies, maybe in your supply chain or locality, you can share ideas and even the cost. As well as this, the collaborative process often equips your staff with new ways of working and new networks of contacts to access.
Karen McCallion (pictured), Innovation Strategist at InterTradeIreland, says there are three key reasons why you should consider collaborating to innovate your business:
1. Quicker Time to Market
Getting your suppliers, customers and staff involved early in the innovation process widens your net for capturing insightful feedback, potentially reducing your risk of being blindsided by developments by your competitors.
Testing your innovations early with trusted partners outside of the firm can also reduce the number of iterations required, shortening your time to market.
If you’re looking for a globally validated innovation process to follow, consider InterTradeIreland’s Challenge programme. It follows Doug Hall’s Innovation Engineering methodology and helps your business develop a process for innovation.
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Most companies have processes for finance, HR and sales. Innovation – a function that has the potential to dramatically increase your profit margins and market share – deserves a process too.
2. Diversify, Enter New Markets and Grow
When you’re busy focusing on your own industry, it’s easy to miss opportunities that could lead your business to new and lucrative markets. Joining forces with a partner outside of your industry, such as a university or even a partner from a completely different sector (with skills complementary to your business), opens possibilities for creating innovative products that attract new markets. Diversity of thought is key.
InterTradeIreland can support you in this through our FUSION programme. This involves a knowledge transfer partnership, where we work with you to find and fund a high calibre science, engineering or technology graduate, and partner you with a third-level institution with specific expertise.
3. A Problem Shared is a Problem Halved
InterTradeIreland can help you find partners throughout the island of Ireland. We can offer you unique access to an all-island collaboration platform called Innovation Engineering Labs through our All-island innovation Programme.
For more information, email karen.mccallion@intertradeireland.com
- For information on all InterTradeIreland innovation supports please visit: https://intertradeireland.com/innovation
