Three Innovation Myths

Running a business is often filled with an overwhelming amount of “housekeeping” tasks.

Sadly, skipping steps that are not considered as mission-critical in favor of product development and customer focus groups will hamper your chance for success. You run the risk of losing, or not being able to monetize, your valuable strategic assets and forget about attracting financing or investment!

Years spent talking to business owners has unearthed the following five myths that need busting to reduce your business’ risk:

Myth 1: Go-to-market First; Boring Paperwork Second

Everyone on the growth path or those innovating all desire traction as soon as possible to demonstrate viability. Boring paperwork and tedious system setup is often ignored in favor of rushing to market. Those early steps lay the foundation of your business, similar to building a home. The same need for groundwork applies with a mature business and new product lines.

Investors and bankers want to minimize risk and are leery of companies that have skipped having contracts and agreements in place. Do not operate on a handshake or without a proper contract because even if you paid for your product, you may not own it!

Myth 2: It Doesn’t Matter Employee or Contractor

Many businesses think that the employee versus contractor is always a choice. It’s actually not and your lawyer or CPA can help you figure out that potential landmine.

When you have anyone helping you, it’s similar to the product development above – sign a contract or agreement that spells out who is doing what for whom. With contractors, you need to make sure that you are receive the full rights and ownership of anything created. You can try to manage this yourself, but having a professional involved is money well spent.

Myth 3: Crowdfund First and Protect Later

A popular method to raise funds and validate your market is rewards based crowdfunding, like Indiegogo and Kickstarter and soon there will be new equity based crowdfunding. However, it can also be problematic if you do not protect your product and brand before launching a funding campaign. A public crowdfunding campaign without IP protection not only leads to copycats but can also impact your rights to patent in the US and internationally. Protect before you pitch!

Is your business at risk? Have you skipped steps along the way?

Check out the special offer from Traklight via Global Chamber® to assess upfront risks for free at http://info.traklight.com/globalchamber .

And remember these myths apply at any stage of a business because we should never stop innovating.

Mary Juetten, CEO of Traklight

Join the global tribe!