Innovation City

Coast companies conquering the world

INNOVATION is one of those 'buzzwords' being used in so many ways at the moment that it is in danger of losing its true meaning. Quite simply, innovation is change that adds value, or in business terms change that makes money.

People may mistakenly associate innovation with invention. But it's more than that. While innovation can be a groundbreaking idea that leads to a new product or service, it can also be used to describe making improvements to processes, products and services that already exist.

It is not only the province of high-tech industries either. Innovation can also be practised in many of the country's traditional sectors. In fact any industry that can make gains through effectiveness, efficiency and overall productivity can be innovative. No matter how many definitions there may be for innovation, there is one undisputed fact about its effect: it increases the chance of business success.

In a highly competitive business environment those companies who do not see the importance of encouraging innovation are taking a very big risk.

To foster real innovation within a company there needs to be a focus on the potential innovation has to enhance the company's competitiveness.

If this isn't already part of your company's culture there are a number of ways to promote it.

• Remember innovation is about ideas - and anyone can have one.

• Be flexible and open to those new ideas. Management needs to have a positive attitude towards change and not be afraid of risk-taking or experimentation.

• Make sure there can be a free-flow of information and ideas up, down and across the company. There needs to be open channels of communication to develop an idea.

• Listen to your customers. No amount of market research can show you how and why customers use your products or services as effectively as meeting them face- to-face.

• Encourage even the smallest ideas. Often the simplest ideas can lead to big productivity improvements. Ideas have the ability to snowball too, so even if one idea may not be a success it may be the springboard for another more successful one.

• Respond to new trends and market conditions.

• Encourage a culture of continuous learning, be that from good or bad innovations. Always review those processes and build on them in the future.

•· Perhaps most importantly allocate resources to innovation, even if it's only time. It's not unnecessary expenditure: it's an investment in the company.

Now that you have come up with the best thing since sliced bread, if you are part of an established company, taking your idea to the market may not be difficult. But if you are an inventor, or early-stage company, commercialisation of the product may be the hardest step.

Rick McElhinney, chairman of Founders Forum, a local angel investor network devoted to assisting early-stage investment opportunities, says having a great invention doesn't guarantee market success. "No matter how great your invention is, investors want to invest in people," says Mr McElhinney.

"The invention may be good, but it will need to be managed by a good team. The investors at least need to see that the company has the ability to build the team. And they need to have done their market research well to really understand the product's market potential. "Investors don't mind finding a company with holes, particularly if the entrepreneur is very skilled. They do however need to be capable of allowing another person to come in and help build their business."

Mr McElhinney says the product itself also needs to be well protected by intellectual property and patenting laws. If it can be copied too easily the product will lose its value.

"The harsh reality is that investors want to see a return on their investments. They do expect to see some profits."

If you have an idea you'd like to take to market, there are several ways to raise funds on the Gold Coast. Here are a few to get you started.

Founders Forum

THIS not-for-profit company, set up on the Gold Coast in 2000, gives inventors the opportunity to present their ideas to investors. The group meets bi-monthly, and with a huge database of contacts and venture capitalists has been successful in raising over $40 million to help inventors get their products to market.

inQbator

Established on the Gold Coast in 1999 with federal government backing and a brief to provide seed investment to innovative companies with global growth opportunities, inQbator invests in the information technology, telecommunications and bio-informatics sectors; or any business that is enabled by one of these new technologies. InQbator manages a portfolio of 15 active companies across Australia and has raised an additional $35 million in follow-on capital to affect the planned commercialization process.

Ideas2Market

This program, run by the Australian Institute for Commercialisation (AIC), provides innovators and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) from technology-based small businesses with information and skills to improve their competitive advantage through development of new and improved products and services.

Over the past year, Ideas2Market has attracted more than 550 participants from across Queensland.

Gold Coast Technology Incubator

A partnership between the State Government, Griffith University and Gold Coast City Council, the Gold Coast Technology Incubator, to be established at Griffith University's Gold Coast campus, will assist start-up high-tech businesses.

The companies will get access to industry experts across a range of business management areas including finance, capital raising, leadership, intellectual property and commercialisation of products; and will be able to grow and develop as part of a supportive network. They'll eventually graduate into the broader business community.

AusIndustry

AusIndustry is the Australian Government's business program delivery division and provides a range of programs that support business innovation, including innovation grants, tax and duty concessions, small business services, and support for industry competitiveness worth nearly $2 billion each year.

AusIndustry's innovation grants program Commercial Ready offers project funding of $50,000 to $5 million for research, development and pre-commercialisation. The Commercialising Emerging Technologies (COMET) program has a strong focus on mentoring, business management, advice and support and offers grants in the range of $5000 to $120,000.

Heading to match up with text sent earlier, profiling companies The Gold Coast prides itself on being an Innovation City. To say our local companies have invented scores of world-leading innovations is an understatement. Here we list just a few of the Coast's companies conquering the world.