When Mary Naylor wants to find new ideas to better promote her
business, Capitol Concierge, she looks where most people don't:
in the trash. "I collect junk mail and keep it in a box I call
`Mary's Ideas'," says the 34-year-old entrepreneur,
whose Washington, DC, company sets up concierge services in
office-building lobbies to provide business and personal services
for tenants and their clients. Last year, her business produced
$5.5 million in gross revenues. "I get inspiration from things
most people throw away," Naylor explains. "I look for
ideas of how people market their product or service, what makes the
piece effective and what doesn't. When I want to kick-start my
creative processes, I go to my box of ideas to see what's
new."
Keeping creative ideas flowing is a challenge entrepreneurs face
every day, whether it's by finding ways to lower production
costs, motivate employees or stretch dollars during lean times.
Fortunately, creativity--that mental energy that spawns new
thoughts and problem-solving solutions--isn't a talent reserved
for composers, writers and painters.
"Innovation and creativity are not just for artists. These
are skills with a direct, bottom-line payoff," says Joyce
Wycoff, author of Mindmapping: Your Personal Guide to Exploring
Creativity and Problem-Solving (Berkley Books, $8.95,
800-447-2774). "Every person can be taught techniques and
behaviors that help them generate more ideas. Unfortunately, these
behaviors and techniques are seldom taught in schools or
management-training sessions. We need to make a special effort to
learn them."
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Here are eight proven techniques you can use to sharpen your
creative thinking skills and keep your ideas flowing:
1.Start with your own experiences. Working as a
placement counselor for a New York City nanny service, Maurice
Wingate thought he'd have no problem finding quality child care
for his infant son. But when he and his wife went looking for a
nanny, he was turned off by many agencies' lax procedures for
checking personal references. "I looked at the issue not as a
professional, but as a parent. There were many things the agencies
should have been doing but weren't," says Wingate, who
filled the void by starting Best Domestic Services Agency Inc. in
1993.
Wingate also drew on his personal experiences to carve a niche
for Best Domestic in New York City's competitive
temporary-care-services industry. Wingate figured other parents
might encounter similar problems finding babysitters. "If a
client had to attend a last-minute, work-related function or was
called out of town unexpectedly, how could he arrange for child
care?" Wingate wondered. As a solution, he introduced 24-hour,
emergency child care for his clients.
2. Seek other points of view. David Wiggins, president of
American Wilderness Experience Inc. in Boulder, Colorado, values
input from his wife, Carol, and a network of advisors, including
friends, stockholders and past business associates, to generate new
ideas for his adventure-travel business. "I find it extremely
helpful to get different perspectives from people I respect and
trust," he says.
Wiggins called his support team to help expand the company's
offerings beyond its summer horseback-riding and river-rafting
trips. "To make a business like this go, you need to offer
year-round adventure-travel opportunities," he says. "I
was strapped for cash and couldn't visit with new guides to
discuss new travel options. Carol suggested contacting our current
guides and seeing what winter adventures they could offer."
The idea worked. One guide who ran summer horseback-riding trips
wanted to introduce snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park.
"That one connection single-handedly gave us the winter
program we needed to expand our business, and it's been our
strongest trip ever since," Wiggins says. "From there,
we've developed trips in Hawaii and Mexico, and are now willing
to try new and unusual adventures such as dog sledding and sea
kayaking."
Naylor seeks better ways of running Capitol Concierge by talking
with owners and managers of noncompeting companies about how they
run their businesses. "I'm not a competitor, so people are
very receptive. They like to share what they've
developed," says Naylor, who spent half a day with the
human-resources manager of a company that had a great
employee-recruiting program.
3. Listen to your clients. Great ideas can come from the
people you're trying to please most: your clients. "I
glean helpful information by listening to parents talk about what
experiences they'd like their children to have," says
Cheryl Beck-Benjamin, founder and co-owner of Happy All Day Inc.
and Becky Bailey's Creative Kids in Los Angeles, which offer
youngsters after-school classes in art, theater, dance and other
subjects. "I got the idea for a cooking class from my partner,
Ruthie Bailey, when she was a client," she says.
4. Brainstorm. Many small-business owners brainstorm with
employees to generate new ideas for their businesses. "Our
management team meets once a week," Wiggins says.
"It's an excellent forum to bounce new ideas around.
Everyone is asked to submit topics beforehand. We have an agenda
and we stay focused."
5. Avoid negative people. Nothing will kill the creative
instinct faster than someone who spreads words of doom and gloom
with comments like, "We've tried that before" or
"It will never work." Doomsayers can be particularly
harmful during brainstorming sessions, when employees are expected
to share ideas freely. "We don't allow negative thinking
at our sessions," Wiggins says. "We let people know that
taking risks is acceptable and encouraged, and there is no
`stupid' idea."
6. Read. Naylor got the idea for her corporate concierge
service from a magazine. "There was an article about a
California woman doing something similar, but no one was doing
anything like this in Washington," she recalls. So Naylor
visited California to check out the woman's operation, and
returned to the nation's capital to plan her business.
Donna Chaiet reads business publications to generate ideas for
promoting Prepare Inc., her self-defense education business in Los
Angeles and New York City. "I read a magazine article that
said small-business owners don't have a problem finding new
leads, but using the leads they already have," Chaiet says.
"The idea hit me: I have 100-plus people coming through my
classes every month. Wouldn't it be great for me to sell to
them?"
Chaiet now calls each of her students for feedback on his or her
class experience. "I ask for referrals; opportunities to do
workshops in their area; and leads for media coverage, such as
their favorite local newspaper or radio station," she says.
"It's great outreach."
7. Play. Taking time to kick back and relax is a great
way to keep your creative juices flowing. Some business owners go
hiking, work out at the gym, read or take a nap. "I do some of
my best thinking in my hot tub at home," Wiggins says. "I
sit there, look at the stars and come up with some pretty good
ideas."
8. Write it down. Idea-generating entrepreneurs know if
you don't record your ideas when they're fresh, chances are
you'll forget them entirely. That's why it's important
to keep a pen and a pad of paper handy in your office, your car, at
your bedside or anywhere else you spend time. "The only
problem I have," Wiggins says, "is keeping a dry pad of
paper next to the tub."
Freelance writer Carla Goodman described how to convince
retailers to stock your product in the August issue of Business
Start-Ups.
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