How can you innovate on a shoestring budget?
AI-generated with prompt: a lightbulb with no money, watercolor
In the early stages of a new project or initiative, resources are often limited, even within a corporate setting. But that does not have to limit our creativity. When it comes to budget-conscious innovation, corporates can take a page out of the startup playbook. Here’s 4 ways you can drive innovation that won’t break the bank. TLDR:
📖 Tell stories
🚧 Break the rules
👥 Build a support network
💪 Persevere
Bonus: 📊 Collect evidence
Below insights are inspired by the SXSW panel “Startup Hacks: Unleashing Innovation on a Shoestring Budget” and my experiences with innovating in corporates.
📖 Tell stories
Keisha Mabry: “Storytelling stores information, it stores credibility, brand identity, but more than anything, it stores memories in the minds and hearts of people.”
Your story is what gets people excited to work with you. And we need to tailor those stories to different audiences.
Mary Fernandes: "There's storytelling for clients and storytelling for investors. There's even storytelling for your own employees, because you have to explain your brand and your mission and a vision to get buy in and motivate them.”
🚧 Break the rules
When Akeem Shannon couldn’t get into a pitch competition, he instead hustled himself in a music competition where he pitched his business with a rap. “To my face they kept saying ‘stop breaking the rules’” but stepping off the beaten path got him in front of Snoop Dogg and on Shark Tank.
There are a lot of unwritten rules and structures in organisations “because this is just how we do it” or “we have always done it this way”. When I get this response, I know there is an opportunity to push the boundaries and try something different.
👥 Build a support network
Keisha: “Every time I have a new idea, I share my idea with 100 people. This probably sounds crazy, because we're taught to not share our ideas, our hopes, our goals, our dreams, our businesses for fear of someone ripping it off. But what if we think about this differently? These 100 people can support you, can become advocates, mentors and cheerleaders, partners, investors, potential customers. That's powerful.”
You can’t innovate in isolation. For problems to be solved and opportunities to grow, we need collaboration and diverse expertise. For me, having people I can run early ideas by to get their feedback has helped me accelerate or pivot to better outcomes.
💪 Persevere
Mary: “It is not about being perfect and not making any mistakes. I guarantee you everybody's going to slip up. Everybody's going to have to pivot. At the end of the day, it's a journey, not a destination. Keep the passion keep the persistence and keep moving forward. Be practical and rooted in reality, but also dreaming and thinking big.”
Innovation is not a single moment of inspiration. What often separates successful companies from others is the decision to continue pursuing their goals day after day, despite setbacks or lack of resources.
Bonus: 📊 Collect evidence
If I could add just one thing to this list it would be: track your efforts and collect evidence. This can be data like number of people participating in workshops and number of ideas you have validated (quantitative data), but also feedback, testimonies or case studies (qualitative data).
When a stakeholder asks you “why should we invest time/money/resources in this?” having your evidence ready helps move the conversation from opinions to facts (and hopefully gets you what you want).
AI-generated with prompt: a lightbulb on a shoestring budget, watercolour.
