What Innovative Business Solutions Can You Introduce Online?

No matter what your business or industry, there are innovative business solutions you can implement online to create Blue Ocean. What changes in product, process, customer experience and business model can you imagine right now? There are probably several more that will come to light as you pay attention to the area of online innovation.

You Can Start Innovative Business Solutions Online With Software

It's a basic, but powerful, place to start. Improvements in band width have made 'cloud computing' a more attractive offering than it has been previously, with slow internet speeds. What applications could you move online that would make systems run more smoothly?

Innovative business solutions can also include technology such as audio and video. Again, band width makes video a viable option for any business wanting to assert its presence online.

What Does Your Business Need That Is Not Yet Possible Online?

How about creating your own software? What functionality do you want from the internet that is not yet possible? Some of the world's greatest innovative business solutions come from people creating what they need.

Larry Page created his 'Back Rub' software while at Stanford University. It holds the patent for this software which is the core component of Google's algorithm - which give them better search query results than competing search engines.

There has been lots of press around the controversial one-click patent owned by amazon.com. First registered in the late 1990s, it was struck down in 2007.

How Could Your Customers Benefit From A User Generated Content System?

Innovative business solutions online can also come from paying close attention to what online users want and need.

iStockphoto.com revolutionised the graphic design industry by introducing a user generated content system that sells images for a fraction of the 'old price' of images. The user can choose the file's size - which is priced accordingly or they can choose to pay less and let others do the same or purchase the image outright and have exclusivity.

What Offline Space Can Your Business Compete For Online?

The way we manage our daily lives is shifting online, from business to communication, information sourcing to socialising. You may be able to identify innovative business solutions that will replace an offline function with an online one for your customers.

www.realestate.com.au took the advertising of homes for sale online in order to directly compete with the newspapers. Real Estate classifieds were one of the most lucrative areas for advertising revenue the newspapers owned.

Now potential buyers can register for alerts based on their property selection profile, do loan calculations - all in an online environment, thanks to the innovative business solutions pioneered by this initiative.

An interesting stoush with the racing industry several years ago erupted when the newspapers increased massively the price of putting form guides in their publications. The racing industry tried to hold firm but in the end had to back down due to falling gambling revenue - once they were no longer aligned with newspapers.

How is that playing out now with the web? Both the newspapers and the totaliser agencies are under threat by innovative business solutions being created by online players.

Start With The Obvious Online Needs Of Your Customers

Immediate access 24 x 7 is one of the most compelling online innovations you can take advantage of. People want to be able to transact and do business online when it suits them. Online companies offering innovative business solutions often start with initiatives that take advantage of the 24 hour nature of both the internet and the online customer.

Ask yourself what added benefits your customers are looking for online. Consider options such as: live chat help desks, discounted rates for online custom and online membership privileges.

Learn more about website usability and read case studies of how other businesses advanced through a strategic online marketing strategy.