Innovate Niagara: Your Official Guide to the Business Buzzwords of ...

By CDMN on Jun 4, 2013 / Categories: CDMN News

The following guest post was submitted by Jessica Potts of Innovate Niagara, was originally published by Innovate Niagara, and is published here with permission

I laugh every time I hear three words?three words that I am officially labelling the Business Buzzwords of 2013: innovation, commercialization and ecosystem. They aren?t bad words?in fact, it?s their popularity that?s to blame for their new-found clich?.

Then I shudder as I realize that I?ve just taken on the task of making those buzzwords relatable to the average person through my consulting contract with Innovate Niagara. So let?s get started, shall we?

I had the privilege of hearing CBC?s Amanda Lang speak at the Women in Leadership and Business Conference in April and had an ?aha? moment when she said, ?innovation and productivity are two sides of the same coin?a new idea beats an old idea and something changes.? Now that?s something we can all relate to!

Part of the reason I dislike the word ?innovation? is because it has an air of exclusivity, like you have to be a leading edge technology developer to be innovative. Not true! I felt pretty innovative when I instituted the ?solo sock basket? in my laundry room a couple months ago and have been saving time ever since matching up pairs as though I were an online dating service.

Back to those buzzwords with my number two Business Buzzword of 2013: ?commercialization.? This does not involve those 30 second clips shown between scenes of your favorite television show. Commercialization is the complex, multi-stage process of bringing a concept to market. Simply put, it?s the who, what, when and where of a new product?the entire process of idea, evaluation, prototype, more evaluation, production/manufacturing, distribution and ultimately growth and revenue.

Let?s move on to ?ecosystem.? I bet you thought that you knew what an ecosystem was from your grade nine biology class, right? Wrong. This number three buzzword is all about context. Back in the early 1990s, James F. Moore introduced the concept of a business ecosystem in a Harvard Business Review article where he defined it as ?an economic community supported by a foundation of interacting organizations.?

That?s a great definition, but still a little bit abstract for my simple mind. So perhaps a shameless plug for my new employer will help make it more palatable. Innovate Niagara provides a one-stop resource for entrepreneurs in emerging sectors and ensures a streamlined and efficient approach to coordinated services.

What does that mean? It means that Innovate Niagara is the front door of an entire business ecosystem??an economic community supported by a foundation of interacting organizations??that can provide you with advice, training, mentoring, networking, financing, and a host of other resources just by registering as a client at www.innovateniagara.com. Someone will assess your needs and provide you with services to fulfill those needs (most at no cost). As a customer/client, that?s all you care about, right? Whether the service provider(s) are on Innovate Niagara?s payroll isn?t relevant because as a business owner, you just need what you need when you need it without calling 12 different offices to find it, right? Right!

?Now if I can just utilize this local business support ecosystem to commercialize my innovative solo sock basket, then I?d really be on to something!

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Source: http://www.cdmn.ca/innovate-niagara-your-official-guide-to-the-business-buzzwords-of-2013/

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