Time for innovation is now

Innovation abounds in times of disruption and uncertainty.  The United States has a history of innovating its way through difficult times.  I think about innovations in World War two like radar, penicillin, rockets, and the beginning of computing; through troubled times, we made incredible advances in technology.  We saw the nation’s small businesses come together during this time to meet the changing needs of consumers. Corn syrup replaced sugar in recipes. Companies began converting from automobile manufacturing to plane manufacturing. Daycares sprang up to care for children while women entered the workforce. We have heard our fight against the coronavirus compared to a war, and we see small businesses mobilizing.

Innovation often begins with the recognition of a problem.  There are some obvious problems that our small businesses can address: the need for medical equipment, delivery services, and at-home entertainment.   Disruptions, however, exist throughout the economy; there are labor shortages and excesses, supply chains are operating differently, purchasing patterns have changed, and products that were once purchased from other countries must switch to domestic production.

Create a List

Students in our new venture launch class identify 30 problems routinely.  I suggest small businesses do the same; the more, the better. Once problems are identified, explore a few deeply; talk to customers (electronically, of course) about their perspective on the problems that your business can solve.  A great place to look for inspiration is social media groups of typical target customers.  Note customers’ questions to each other and complaints that they have.  The best innovative ideas solve a problem for which customers are actively seeking a solution.  If you find a problem that you can solve, act quickly to test the idea, and seek feedback from early users.

Nick Walden models a face shield that is being produced for area hospitals.

A great example comes from recent ECU graduates and small business owners Taylor and Nick Walden. These local entrepreneurs are making face shields for medical professionals with equipment and workforce from their personalized gift business, Simple and Sentimental.  They have mobilized a community effort to rally donations to support materials purchases for the face shields.  Doing so, they can supply up to 400 face shields per day for hospitals. We see our local restaurants utilizing takeout and delivery to provide quality meals safely to their communities.  Artists are displaying works for view online, musicians are holding livestreamed concerts, and churches are holding drive-in services.  Teachers are enabling their students to learn through distance education, cut-and-sew operations are making face masks, and distilleries are making hand sanitizer.

The effort is underway. What innovations are you seeing? What questions do you have regarding how to turn your innovative idea into a reality? Let’s dialogue on social media and get through this crisis together.

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David Mayo is the director of the Crisp Small Business Resource Center and an instructor in the Miller School of Entrepreneurship. He has worked directly with small businesses in eastern North Carolina through six disaster declarations.  Mayo has assisted with the development of multiple new technologies, helped businesses raise $30,000,000 in capital, consulted with more than 400 companies, and sits on two startup board of directors.  He also is a small-business owner, running two businesses in the Greenville area.

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