In the past few years, innovation has become a business buzzword. Simply put, innovation is the process of coming up with something new and useful. The main difference between innovation and invention is the customer acceptance of the product and service. In invention, the goal is newness while in innovation, usefulness. 

Innovation has 2 kinds: incremental and disruptive innovation. Incremental is slow development just like how cellphones have developed over the years. At first, it only has 2 major features: call and sms. As years went by, it added a camera, internet, then became a small computer to be used as a work station. While disruptive is behavior-changing. Disruptive happens when there is a new technology involved; such is the case of the Internet. When the Internet came, it paved way for faster and more efficient communication. It changed how we do banking and commerce.

In my definition of innovation there are 3 important words: process, useful and new. This is the lens by which we are going to approach this article.

Process. Every successful innovation goes through research to find areas where innovation can happen. Also in the process is synergizing the creativity and energy of the individuals within the organization.

New. Every successful innovation must be an improvement therefore it has to be new.  New can be the market or the companies process.

Useful. There has to be mass acceptance in order for the innovation to be successful.

Innovation can be applied both in small or big businesses.

An example of a small business innovation is that of what some Ramen bars did to their products: they turned their products into ready to cook frozen goods. That is an example of innovation because they offered a different experience to the customers. They were also able to reach a different market by partnering with distributors and logistics companies.

For large companies, what comes to my mind is that of Cebu Pacific. Before they came to the market PAL was dominating the Filipino market but Cebu Pac’s fare innovation made them a serious threat to PAL. Because of their innovation, more Filipinos are able to fly and experience going to other countries.

Innovation goes beyond creativity and design; it is a careful study, and research into target customers, so that something new can be offered.

Reference:

Innovation & Entrepreneurship by Drucker

A business model is one of the important concepts a person in business must know. Simply put, a business model tells us what a business does and how it makes money. Another way to put it is it’s the logic of the business.

According to an MIT paper, there are 4 basic business models:

Creator. A creator buys the components from suppliers and turns it into finished goods to be sold.

Distributor. A distributor is someone who buys finished goods and resells, in short, a trader.

Landlord. A landlord may own or not own an asset and sells the right to use for a specific amount of time.

Broker. A broker is someone who facilitates sales by matching buyers and sellers.

It is important to have a clear business model as this helps owners and employees understand how the business operates and clear understanding of operations lead to rational decision making at it considers the logic behind the business.

In order to create a business model, there has to be an understanding of these factors:

However, to get a clear business model the entrepreneur must answer this:

Online selling this pandemic is on the rise.  This is because of several factors: efficient logistics, online payment system, people are at home and a new needs brought by the pandemic.

In the last few months there was also a rise in new Facebook groups and stars. 2 of them is homebuddies and Ninong Ry. These groups and personalities help entertain people and promote consumerism, which is good for the economy.

Going back to effective online selling, what could be the different way you can do to close more sale?

These are 4 basic tips that will help you sell more. Of course, for this to be effective, it has to be done consistently.

The pandemic has caused a great disturbance in the economy. It has closed businesses that resulted to the unemployment of thousands. How can one start from scratch this 2021?

This 2021, its time to break the romanticism of looking into passion and pursuing it, but instead, focus on what successful entrepreneurs have done and that is to seek opportunities in growing industries or strong industries and align with their capabilities.

In preparation for a 2021 program that I will run on starting a business, I asked the wisdom of a veteran economist from a research firm and he gave industries that will be strong this coming year.

The 5 are the following:

1. Digital Services
2. Logistics & Distribution
3. Pharmaceuticals
4. Construction
5. Health and Wellness

Dr. Villegas, an economists from CRC, sees industries related to agri, digital, health and education as industries the will thrive this 2021, and business in travel, fashion, furnishings and non-digital entertainment will have difficulty in recovering.

I don’t really give specific business ideas instead one can look into the industries and see what they can do as their business. It may be based on their experience and network. But if you we to ask me what I will do for myself, I will continue with education of course because that is where my capabilities are and the industry will thrive, if I were to follow the logic of Dr. Villegas. If I were not in education today, I would be in the industry of health and wellness, probably in healthy food.

I do not undermine the importance of passion in business but in 2021 or in any year for that matter, it would be an advantage if one’s passion were aligned with a growing industry. Although of course, other factors are involved too in success like capabilities and network.

This 2021, if you wish to start a business, do it within the predicted industry to increase the chances of creating a successful business.

This pandemic we see a lot of stories of businesses closing and people losing their jobs. However, we also see plenty of new small businesses sprouting. Thanks to diskarteng Pinoy. The word diskarte doesn’t have an equivalent English word. The closest translation would be resourceful and ingenious. Madiskarte is used to describe someone who, in a disadvantage, can thrive, and survive, and get themselves out of the disadvantage.

I asked myself where the word came from? There is one article quoting a Professor of Anthropology from UP that suggests the word may have come from the Spanish word descartar meaning dealing of playing cards, which eventually evolved in the Philippines to mean “strategizing behavior”. This maybe because of what Filipinos do when dealt with bad cards or unfavorable sitution, they get out of it. With our history of being invaded and oppressed by other cultures, this explanation makes sense. Reading Japanese history and finding out how ingenious they are during the Japanese medieval times, I thought maybe it was their influence while they were here during World War 2 so I checked the word ingenious in Japanese. 独創的 Dokusō-teki is the Japanese word for ingenious or creative, so I thought that maybe, since the sound is somewhat similar when pronounced, diskarte may have come from the Japanese, that is unfounded though and pushing it a bit; a new word though for those like us who don’t know.

In my years of training ranks, I always hear the word diskarte when they solve problems. One bus driver fixed the broken wiper by tying them together to make them travel “safely” through the rain. When I have my car fixed, and the mechanic does not buy the parts from the Casa and do something about it, they make diskarte. I had my oven fixed, the technician used the butt of the screwdriver to hit the sensor to align it better, he made diskarte. Those stories represent the negative meaning of the word.

But here, I want to focus on the productive and positive meaning of diskarte without the elements of cheating or short cut, specifically finding ways to thrive and survive. We have so many success stories this pandemic because of diskarte. I saw an article about a coffee bean entrepreneur whose business of reselling beans was affected at the start of quarantine, but eventually turned an old sari-sari store into a minimalist Japanese-inspired café. We also have seen on the internet how some flight attendants sold food on the streets to make a living and how those who lost their salaried jobs started a small home based business. In the corporate world, there are less stories I know since the set up does not give much elbow room for diskarte or Dokusō-teki. but I heard of a story where a manager lost a presentation file due to a computer virus. Fortunately, she knows the presentation by heart and turned the presentation into a game. She asked other managers to guess the percentage of sales on her presentation, just like how it is done in Price is Right and the closest gets a coffee. A failure turned to victory because of diskarteng Pinoy.

We do not know where diskarte came from, but the spirit of diskarte is evident in the mindset and culture of Filipinos. Borrowing what Wam Mendido wrote in his article Diskarte 101 for Rappler back in 2014, “Descartes. I think therefore I am, gives way to, I diskarte, therefore I can.”