Inside the Group

Small business optimism falls in NFIB index

This morning the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) released its monthly report on the mood of small business owners across the country. The index fell 1.3 points and has been below 90 for over a year, indicating continued concerns about the future and apprehension among small businesses to invest in new people, technology, or other expansions. According to William Dunkelberg, chief economist at NFIB:

Something is preventing owners from "pulling the trigger.” Very few owners felt that growth opportunities were solid enough to warrant expansion. Net job creation will appear in the coming months, but the gains will be painfully slow with timid consumer spending, especially in the service sector

In our own personal experience with clients, we see this pulling back as well. However, our clients have also realized that there is only so much retrenchment they can undergo while still keeping their doors open. As we often say, in good economic times,  some businesses can practically just stick a flag in the ground and have customers flock to them. But when things turn bad, those same businesses without the foresight and ability to execute on a high level disappear. While businesses that keep providing value to customers and keep reaching out and compelling customers to spend some of their precious money on their products and services can actually thrive.

Certainly a business needs to be prudent and save money when possible to survive the downturn, but these are the periods where a heightened emphasis on the connection made with customers through product and service design, communication and marketing, and exemplary customer experiences are an absolute necessity.

INSIDE THE GROUP IS THE BRAINSTORMING AND DISCUSSION FORUM OF WESTFALL | GROUP

They know better than you, or us (part 2)

In the last article I gave the first three of eight lessons and insights I gleaned from a recent study (download here) by researchers Eric von Hippel and Pedro Oliveira titled, “Users as Service Innovators: The Case of Bank Services.” In the study they look at the role of end users in the creation of new services and how their own innovations often can be modified and implemented by companies in commercially viable ways.

Here are the remaining five things I took from the study that I believe should be top of mind for any organization looking to fuel their innovation processes:

They know better than you…or us (part one)

A new study examines the role of user-created innovations in the services industry and sheds
light on the importance of observing and
involving users in the development of new
products and services.

 

Ever wonder where some of big and exciting creations of business come from? Sure you have, and even more likely you have said to yourself, ‘Gee, I could have come up with that.’ Well guess what, you might have and not even known it.