When economies worldwide felt the brunt of the economic downturn, businesses were forced to find ways earn more income. One of the methods of increasing income was innovation. Sean McNulty, managing director of Dolmen Innovation and Design Consultants, in Ireland, tells the story of how his business–which earns more than euro 1 million a year and employs eight people–used innovation as a means of increasing Dolmen's income. "Some of the clients pay me based on performance and some pay me a straight fee, so I get paid in different ways so I have different revenue streams. More and more it is about performance: you don't deliver, they don't want you," McNulty said.
Paid on performance-based work means that he would be as good as his last job. He said businesses should look to social media for advertising or other low cost advertising means, rather than launch a huge advertising campaign which can be costly. McNulty sees innovation as doing things in new ways, it should be able to add value to the business, must be easily adapted and can be successfully commercialised. McNulty is the lead facilitator of Business Development Company's INSTIL Innovation Programme and started Dolmen in 1991. Since then, his business has spread its wings to Switzerland, Germany, Barbados, Jamaica, T&T and others.
McNulty had the opportunity to meet owners of small businesses in T&T, and said it is time for them to market their product internationally and not only locally. "There are a lot of very good food products here, but they are not being internationalised as it should be. That's where our biggest task lies in turning around." Explaining further, he said there are food products in our supermarkets that have minimum labelling and this cannot work if it is to be marketed internationally. "When you are developing products, it is cheaper to think international and then launch it locally, if you launch it locally and then try internationally, it is hugely expensive, because you have to pay for certification and regulation. If you deal with that up front, your work is done."
He believes that there is a difference between developing a product and developing a service. "A product is easier to develop; it's technical so it's more defined. It either works or it does not work. The minute you put a service out there, it gets consumed by the market place, it gets used and very hard to change." Whether it may be a service or a product, it's about reducing the risk of failure. McNulty suggested that T&T should be looking to determine whether there can be growth in sectors such as the beverage and other sectors.
