COMPANIES: How to work well with a startup
WHY DO ESTABLISHED COMPANIES FIND IT HARD TO INNOVATE?
We all know that a company's future depends to a large extent on its ability to adapt to changes in consumer behavior and to incorporate technological advances. Innovation enables organizations to differentiate themselves from their competitors by improving their products and services, and thus stand out in the marketplace. However, with the rapid evolution of new technologies, innovation cycles are becoming shorter and shorter. In other words, to remain competitive, established companies need to innovate more frequently and rapidly. Unfortunately, their organizational structures and business models can sometimes hold them back. What's more, in this context, relying solely on their internal resources becomes excessively difficult, so they are more inclined to call on external partners.
Innovation is by its very nature risky and uncertain, which generally does not fit in with the management culture of many established companies. As they grow, their ability to innovate is limited by their size and the processes and procedures developed to achieve their objectives and reduce risk. As a result, their organizational structure, which is mainly focused on managing and exploiting the existing business model that has made them so successful, makes it difficult for them to break away from their traditional processes, and creates an environment that is hardly conducive to innovation.
HOW TO INNOVATE SUCCESSFULLY WITH A STARTUP?
To innovate, established companies need to set aside certain pre-established assumptions or predefined processes within their organization, which can be complicated to implement. Startups, on the other hand, are constantly generating new ideas and have impeccable organizational flexibility. They can therefore represent a promising solution for accelerating the innovation process of established companies.
There are many advantages to working with a startup:
- Gaining agility and momentum: This enables the company to move quickly from prototyping to product development and deployment, reducing the risk of being left behind by competitors in the sector. What's more, working with startups enables you to learn to be more agile by changing direction if the product doesn't work.
- Access to new technologies: Startups generally develop or use the best technologies on the market to offer next-generation products or services. Having direct access to these technologies enables companies to offer new solutions to their customers' needs more quickly.
- Delivering a better customer experience: Technology plays an essential role in transforming the customer experience. Startups can offer innovative technological solutions, such as semantic or predictive analysis software, to track the evolution of customer opinions and anticipate their purchasing intentions.
- Attracting talent: Working with startups gives the company easier access to entrepreneurs and talent who can help it grow organically in the future.
To work successfully with a startup, it's important to understand how they operate and to clearly define your needs and objectives. Finding the right startup partner means targeting startups that match your needs, and defining the parameters of the collaboration so as to align the interests of both parties. Successful collaboration between an established company and a startup can create considerable value for both partners.
Interested in exploring collaboration with manufacturing startups? Don't hesitate to contact us at info@garageincubation.com