Innovation: Success or Not?
You have great ideas and develop fantastic products. And then success comes naturally, right?
Success is turning ambition into results. But who or what determines when a latent need becomes an acute need?
You should know that I am used to setting the bar high. Actually, in everything I do (and that's not always practical!). As a partner of a beautiful and lovely wife, father of three wonderful children, but certainly also as an experienced professional and entrepreneur, I like to share my experiences about a significant choice in my life. Particularly to show the less glamorous side of entrepreneurship. Where not only I, but many entrepreneurs, face challenges.
Usually, a concrete market demand is the primary motivation to start a business or to take an existing business to greater heights. Especially in my role as a mentor at Startupbootcamp, a startup accelerator program, I have always emphasized how important it is to package your innovative solutions in a way that the market will actually embrace them.
Even more important is the preceding question: is there actually a demand for your invention? We go back to my own experiences in this area. Because from my own experiences, publicly available research results, developments in the world, and the structure of the market, I saw a latent need for support and guidance for the SME entrepreneur.
Large Corporations vs SMEs
Large companies hire expensive consultants to bring structure and focus to their business to lower costs and increase revenue: thus, to generate more profit. This profit then goes into the pockets of the shareholders. In SMEs, the vast majority are both shareholders and directors or managers of their business. Driven by my passion to help people, I came up with the idea to make my knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm accessible to the SME entrepreneur in an approachable way. Because if you have the courage to chase your dream and take all the risks, then you deserve my respect and I am more than happy to help. Moreover, SMEs are the engine of the economy.
My practical experience is mainly in managing, coaching, and guiding people & organizations across the full breadth of the company. Ensuring that you have control over achieving your goals. All this on top of a very solid foundation from various studies combined with fantastic, usually tightly managed, training companies.
But when you start working in an SME, you enter a very different world. In SMEs, it often quickly comes down to relieving the CEO in just about all areas that are not his 'thing'. As a kind of co-pilot, or sidecar passenger of a motorcycle with a sidecar. The CEO steers and you learn, inspire, anticipate, and correct so that you race towards the finish line in the highest possible gear.
However, in SMEs, there is often a fear of hiring consultants because it is not or insufficiently clear beforehand what it will yield. What is clear, however, is that the hourly rates are often high, and therefore the threshold is too high in most cases to hire help.
Route ICR as the First Real Solution for SME Governance
I put all these elements into a virtual blender a decade ago, resulting in a clear, invigorating, and very tasty outcome. Namely, a professional, accessible, and yet affordable management tool. With which entrepreneurs, together with their team, can largely work independently on better performance. So they earn more and create more value.
We have made it our mission at ICR to help as many entrepreneurs as possible grow, by bringing a targeted structure to their business. Growth here stands for progress, both improving and expanding. Focused on the absolute basics with the ultimate goal of better returns, (just like the big companies do…) and value creation.
Entrepreneurs are accustomed to investing time. Because putting in your own hours to make your dream realistic is the basis of entrepreneurship. But it takes a while before using an online management tool gains the absolute trust of entrepreneurs. The market is picking up on our good intentions and accessible solution for SME governance. But it can, no, it actually needs to happen a bit faster.
Maintaining belief and perseverance is and remains the basis of success… Also for me and Route ICR. But that we are going to be successful, is beyond doubt!
A passionate greeting,