Strengthening Your Innovative Mindset
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent van Gogh
“Synergism” is one of my favorite words. Actually, it’s likely my favorite. And I use it often.
Its technical definition is “the interaction of two or more things to produce a combined effect greater than the sum total of their separate effects.” In other words, one plus one equals three.
When I create marketing programs and strategies for clients, I always use a synergistic approach. Simply put, the total of the various individual costs of the program components must always be less than the additional dollars the program brings in added revenue and profits.
Anything less is merely a financial benefit to those individuals and companies selling my clients the various components – and that’s a waste of time and money for the laundromat operator who is footing the bill.
If you own a laundry business and want to increase your customer count and sales volume, there are a number of actions you can – and should – consider. The typical scenario is one in which you begin to think, if you commit to one particular major (and quite likely expensive) marketing approach, you will dramatically and positively impact the health and well-being of your business.
Perhaps you might want to consider an alternative and highly creative approach to replace the time-worn “all-eggs-in-one-basket” experience to which most business owners are naturally attracted.
You’ve probably never heard of Josh Linkner. However, he is the founder of five tech companies and has been referred to as a “creative troublemaker.” In addition, Linkner has written four books, two of which were New York Times bestsellers. And he has spoken around the world on the subject of creative marketing.
His most recent book is entitled “Big Little Breakthroughs: How Small, Everyday Innovations Drive Oversized Results,” and it lays out a surprisingly simple approach to help small-business owners, such as laundromat operators, become everyday innovators.
The pressure to generate big ideas can feel overwhelming to small-business owners. We all know that bold innovations are critical in these disruptive and highly competitive times. But, when it comes to breakthrough thinking, many of us often just freeze up.
Here’s Linkner’s solution: “Instead of shooting for immediate multi-thousands of dollar paydays, consider focusing on Big Little Breakthroughs – small creative acts that can unlock very large rewards over time.” By cultivating daily micro-innovations, laundromat owners can be better equipped to tackle tough challenges and seize transformational opportunities.
The author makes great use of concrete examples in his book. For instance, he describes how a convicted drug dealer launched a massively successful (and legal) fitness company. In addition, he explains the core mindset that drove LEGO to become the largest toy company in the world. He also describes how a Pakistani couple are challenging the global shoe industry. And he outlines the simple habits that led Lady Gaga to her off-the-charts success.
However, as Linkner states, “Big Little Breakthroughs are not just for big-time inventors, fancy-pants CEOs or hoody-wearing tech billionaires. Rather, it’s a surprisingly simple system to help everyday small-business owners, just like you, become everyday innovators and make more money in the process.”
Here’s the formula for success:
- Fall in love with the problem. This means devoting the necessary time to fully examining and understanding the challenge at hand.
- Start before you’re ready. Innovative business owners take the initiative to get started now, rather than waiting for permission.
- Open a test kitchen. Innovation is both strengthened and de-risked through experimentation.
- Break it to fix it. Ditch the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” advice of the past. Innovators proactively deconstruct, examine and rebuild to deliver superior products, systems, processes and works of art.
- Reach for the weird. Preferring the unexpected approaches to the obvious ones, innovators challenge conventional wisdom by searching for unorthodox ideas.
- Use every drop of toothpaste. Consider a scrappy approach of doing more with less when it comes to marketing your laundry business.
- Don’t forget the dinner mint. Adding small, creative flourishes can yield significantly improved results.
The Innovative Laundromat Owner
Given the highlights of the creative marketing success formula outlined above, here are some specific questions that today’s laundromat owners should be asking themselves as they prepare to shift their innovative mindsets into overdrive:
- What is one new component I could add to my laundry business?
- What is one aspect of my business I could subtract from – or substitute within – my operation?
- If I could wave a magic wand to make my laundromat better, what would the end result look like?
- How do other owners solve a similar problem in my field? What about those outside my field?
- What ideas can I borrow from nature or art that will inspire a business upgrade?
- Where else in the world does a similar pattern exist?
- What technological advances have emerged since my current version of equipment was installed? What’s new in the market that can be implemented to make an improvement in my laundry operation?
- How durable is my business? Where are the likely fault lines or weak spots?
Clearly, Linkner’s “deconstruct-examine-rebuild” mode of thinking is an opportunity for you to create a brand new way of seeing and experiencing your laundromat business.
All in all, if you can create the right environment to spur creativity in your world, it will enable your best ideas to flow freely and eventually take root – and, at that magic point, you can become virtually unshackled and unstoppable.
