Business Innovation for Increasing Profitability

In recent years, becoming an entrepreneur or business person has indeed become the choice of many millennials. The results of a survey by IDN Times (2019) show that 69.1% of millennials aspire to become entrepreneurs.

One of the most inspirational entrepreneurs preferred by 43.7% of millennial respondents (IDN Times, 2019) is Sandiaga Uno, a businessman and the wealthiest official who successfully built his business despite having been laid off.

For Sandiaga Uno, the key to the success of his business is threefold, one of which is business innovation. Doing business in any sector, including the culinary industry, requires innovation in various aspects, whether in management or in products or services.

A business is indeed required to always innovate. The importance of innovation in the culinary business is to improve service quality, introduce new types of products that will be favored by customers, and provide comfort to customers when ordering, dining, or after completing their orders.

Here are some things to consider if you as the owner of a culinary business want to innovate. Read and apply these business innovations to ensure that your restaurant or culinary business continues to grow.

1. Stay Up-to-Date with Current Developments

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The first thing you can do to innovate is to keep up with the times. This is because food and beverage trends change rapidly, especially in the era of free access to information. This makes consumer preferences also change constantly.

Many companies eventually go bankrupt because they refuse to follow current trends, such as the collapse of Nokia in the 2000s. Before we knew smartphones, almost everyone used Nokia branded mobile phones.

However, when we became acquainted with smartphones with touch screens and relatively affordable prices compared to the benefits and pride they offered, consumer preferences changed more quickly. While Nokia did not respond by innovating its business and eventually had to suffer the consequences of falling behind.

2. Regularly Evaluate Work Performance

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Work evaluation or performance measurement is essential. So that you, as a culinary entrepreneur, can measure how far you have come, what needs improvement, and what challenges you face. Thus, you can find the right solutions.

These solutions will guide you to innovate in your business. Whether it's innovation in products, operations, management, or other aspects. If you can do it, there will be many benefits to be gained. Some of them include system improvement, customer favorite menus, customer trust, operational efficiency, etc.

3. Understand Customer Motives

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Finding new customers is important, but retaining existing customers is equally important. Customer loyalty is invaluable. Avoid customer dissatisfaction as much as possible and find out what motivates them.

You can find out what your customers want, need, or problems they face through collecting aspirations on social media or other channels. Create Q&A sessions about what they want. If the majority of customers want something, then the company can consider it as feedback for business innovation.

4. Observe and Listen to Surroundings

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Does finding ideas for business innovation have to come from afar? The answer is certainly not. You just need to observe and listen to what others are talking about. From there, you can gain insights for business innovation ideas that may be suitable for your culinary business.

By observing and listening to your surroundings, you can get more ideas for business innovation in your culinary business. This business innovation is important to solve the problems in your restaurant. So that your culinary business can make changes and updates. With that, your loyal customers will be able to stay and even recommend your restaurant to their friends.

5. Think Creatively

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The key to business innovation is creative thinking. Creative ideas can arise anytime, anywhere, and from anyone. When these ideas arise, don't waste them. Write down your creative ideas in a small notebook or your smartphone.

After jotting down all the ideas that come up, you can prioritize them based on urgency, impact level, and possible economic value required. Conduct an analysis to choose the best ideas for innovating your culinary business.

Don't forget to conduct market analysis and competitor review to compare the business innovations you are doing so that you don't seem to be copying your competitor's ideas. If necessary, conduct simulations at your restaurant to see the customer response to the business innovations you intend to implement.

Then, collect comments, suggestions, and responses from your customers from the simulations you conducted. Make improvements and repeat the simulation or proceed with implementing business innovations better than the previous simulation.

Always innovate in your restaurant so that your business can grow over time. Involve the entire team to gather more creative ideas and gain insight into whether the business innovations you implement really have an impact on your culinary business.

Those are some things to consider when wanting to innovate your business. Apply business innovations that are easiest to implement and have a significant impact on your culinary business as much as possible. Because business innovation can start from even the smallest idea.