To succeed, think like a start-up

Business have to “think like start-ups” to embrace innovation, CBA executive Adam Bennett believes.

Commonwealth Bank’s Adam Bennett with Alvin Ng at the release of the report.

Business had to “think like start-ups” to learn to embrace innovation, said Adam Bennett, the Commonwealth Bank’s group executive, business and private banking.

Speaking on the release of a new survey on innovation by the Commonwealth Bank, he said the results showed the need for mid-sized businesses in particular to “think more like start-ups when it comes to innovation”.

The survey of 900 businesses on their attitudes to innovation showed that 70 per cent of all businesses thought innovation was important to the Australian economy.

But small businesses value innovation much more than larger companies.

About 74 per cent of companies with a turnover of less than $1 million agreed that “innovation is critical to the future of the Australian economy, while 70 per cent of those of with a turnover between $1m and $5m agreed with the statement”.

But the level of agreement fell to 65 per cent for companies with a turnover of more than $6m.

Mr Bennett said business owners often saw innovation as being about introducing new technologies, when it was more about doing things in a simpler and more efficient way.

“While business owners often think of innovation as involving the use of technology, more often it involves thinking critically to better understand business challenges and opportunities,” he said.

“The findings show an interesting change in priorities from small to medium enterprises.

“It is vital that as businesses grow, they continue to think like a start-up or the small challenger they once were.”

The survey shows that lack of access to data is a significant concern for businesses.

More than 30 per cent of businesses surveyed said they did not have the data to plan ahead for strategic business decisions.

The cost of acquiring this data also emerged as an important issue.

Fifteen per cent of all businesses surveyed said they could not afford access to data and the insights needed to better run their business.

The concern about access to data was higher in companies in the information, media and technology and manufacturing industries.

The companies said the biggest challenge to innovation in their business was a lack of resources.

More than a third of the business owners surveyed said their “ideal” form of innovation concerned simple things they could do on a day-to-day basis.

About 45 per cent of businesses cited “coming up with innovative ideas” as one of the biggest challenges to innovation in their company.

More than a third said the big challenge was “having the time to look at business with fresh eyes”.

The survey also showed that 80 per cent of businesses expect their partners, such as their banks, to provide them with innovative thinking and tools.

“Australian businesses know they have to be innovative but are unsure of where to turn,” Mr Bennett said. Alvin Ng, chief executive of Flowerscorp, which owns the Roses Only group as well as other floral brands, said he often worked in the company’s call centre in peak times such as the lead-up to Mother’s Day and Christmas.

Speaking at the release of the report, Mr Ng said that this had revealed one of the biggest concerns of people ordering flowers was to know that they had actually been received.

“Many of the calls were quite tense.

“They wanted to know if their mother or their girlfriend had got the flowers,” he said.

He added that work by the company to provide more specific delivery windows and confirmations by SMS to the buyers that their flowers had actually been delivered helped to significantly reduce these calls to the centre.

He said he had found having senior executives spend time working in the company’s call centre was a good way to learn some of the sources of customer concerns and to come up with ideas for improvements in the business.