Why? Because they don’t think they can.
They believe that because they’re in an old, conservative industry, they have no chance of coming up with anything new and different.
They feel that everything has been invented. That there’s no new way to do business or design a product or service.
There’s a good reason they think this: in many industries there has indeed been very little change. But just because the industry hasn’t changed, it doesn’t mean it can’t.
And those that have the courage to come up with revolutionary new products are often rewarded with millions in additional profits for their efforts.
Here is a new example of just such a breakthrough.
You couldn’t get a more boring, staid industry than the envelope business. There’s basically been no change in the design of an envelope for 80 years!
But suddenly along comes Flavorlopes: fruit flavored envelopes!
They solve a real problem – people hate licking envelopes. Now with Flavorlopes you can enjoy licking envelopes with the following flavors: Apple. Cherry, Grape, Orange and Strawberry.
Bang. Just like that, an industry is changed.
Now I’m the first to admit this is not a product breakthrough of the magnitude of the personal computer or the disposable pen. But hey, it’s not a bad effort for the envelope business.
Will people buy them? Of course they will. Is the company that makes them likely to grow a lot in the next 3 years as a result of their originality? You bet. And they deserve to, because unlike the other thousand envelope companies in the world they showed real guts and creativity.
Who dares wins.
How about you? How is your new product creation going? Has it been years since you came up with anything novel for your industry?
Well maybe today is a good time to start. Why not allocate just 15 minutes a day for concocting new product ideas.
Heck, it’s only 15 minutes out of the 600 or so you work every day. Not much at all, but it may just change your industry.
You may not be in the envelope business. But you may end up licking your competition.
Siimon Reynolds, Forbes Contributor
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