THE BENEFITS OF CREATIVITY AND PRINCIPLES OF CREATIVITY IN THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL SCALE BUSINESS BY AKPAN JACKSON NSEABASI (ACIBN)

THE BENEFITS OF CREATIVITY AND PRINCIPLES OF CREATIVITY IN THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL SCALE BUSINESS

BY

AKPAN JACKSON NSEABASI (ACIBN)

The resounding success of most businesses is not actually a function of their ability to capture a larger percentage of the market share but rather on how creative and productive they have been and their ability of been able to meet the ever growing demands of the consumers. The adoption and application of creative ideas will surely create new market and business growth for all businesses that utilize the concept of creativity the way it is supposed to be handled and implemented.

Creativity is the knowledge and power of new ideas. It is the act of bringing into existence what was not in existence. The creativity power is the power of invention and rebirth. Sometimes creativity can be in the direction of bringing back old ideas and ways of doing things into the modern way of doing things.

Small scale businesses can grow and expand positively if the concept, idea and implementation of creativity are taken with all seriousness. Small scale businesses have what it takes in today’s business environment to thrive in the midst of challenging factors militating against business growth and development. Today’s business entrepreneurs must accept the principles and techniques of creativity if they desire for their businesses profitability, expansion and quick returns on investment.

What then are the principles of creativity that a small scale business owner or operator must learn to adopt and implement? The following are the key principles that must be accepted and implemented by all operators of small scale businesses.

v Acquisition and utilization of technical and professional knowledge

v Allow the concept of expertise and intellectual knowledge to take charge and control

v Building on creative thinking skills

v Utilization of the inner power – motivation

v Soaring higher through internal and external information – the power of knowledge

v Working with new technologies

v Taking advantages of the business culture, background and individual characteristics

v Effective utilization of available resources

v Adapting to the factors facing the business environment

v Acquisition and utilization of technical and professional knowledge: Knowledge is the basic foundation that will help the owner and operator of the small scale business to be more creative. The knowledge of how to plan, organize, control, strategize, market and sell new products and services is very vital in the world of small scale business. The thinking ability of the business owner along with the cognitive ability will help the business owner to think in the right direction and in the area of coming up with new inventions on how to service the business environment and the customers in his or her market network. Learning from technical and professional experts will be a source of knowledge in helping business owners in becoming more creative. Business owners can tap from the wealth of knowledge coming from so many technical firms and institutions from both foreign and local bodies. The same can also be said of professional bodies. This is why continuous education in both technical and professional fields is very vital in today’s business environment.  

v Allow the concept of expertise and intellectual knowledge to take charge and control: Application of the various forms of knowledge that one has been able to gather for business creativity is very vital in the growth and development of small scale business. The creative knowledge and intellectualism when allowed to take charge of a business will see things from a unique and different point of view and will also motivate one to focus on what is the way forward in establishing new ideas for the common good of the business. Allowing expertise and intellectual knowledge is the real mother of invention. Business owners will not be getting it right in today’s business environment if all they can bring to the business platform is all about trial and error. Creative thinkers see things from three dimensions which are discovery, invention and creation. Lack of expertise and intellectual knowledge will not allow any business owner to know when to discover new opportunities and ideas in the business world, invent the new ideas and opportunities in the business world and create the needed products and services in the business world.

v Building on creative thinking skills: Many business owners only focus on making profit and generating more incomes. This is very common in the third world or developing nations. They rarely think outside the box. Thinking outside the box will open the tentacles of the business owner to wider and bigger spectrum that is more than thinking about profit and money. Most businesses that are still standing today did not waste their precious time looking for money and profit. They devoted so many years thinking outside the box and looking for what will be much more sustainable and lasting in the future. Today they are the one enjoying the benefits of thinking outside the box. Sometimes you will need to apply the combined method of thinking that is thinking from within and thinking from outside the box. Borrowing from information coming from other businesses can also help in building the creative aspect of the business. The business owner should have a data bank or information bank that will help assist in creating and building new ideas.

v Utilization of the inner power – motivation: The inner driving force of any business man or woman is very vital in creativity and business development. Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic. So many people don’t really know the reason for coming into the business world. It is more than making money. The business world is a world of continuity of business ideas and inventions at the expense of temporal benefits for a greater successful achievement in the business world in the future. Therefore it is very important that motivation must play the central role in creativity. Motivation must keep you firing at all times until the invisible becomes visible and the unattainable becomes attainable in the business world. The key of every great business man or woman is don’t stop thinking and don’t stop doing it, you are a failure when you zero out. This can only be achieved through the power of motivation.

v Soaring higher through internal and external information – the power of knowledge: The advantage that the western world or developed nations have over developing countries of the world is power of research for new information, ideas and solution. To the developed nations of the world new ideas is the end product of research. Billions of currencies are allocated to research for new ideas at the national level, state level, educational level, business level and in all sectors of human endeavors. There cannot be any meaningful creativity if the power of research is not allowed to have its role and function in the business parlance. Small scale business owners must make business research a very vital platform of their business if there is going to be any creativity. A business owner that cannot research will soon run out of business ideas and this will eventually affect the growth, development and performance of the business. Small scale business owners should learn more from the Chinese business environment. In China the culture and the language is all about research and invention. No wonder China today is able to come out with different brands, products and services. The same goes with America, United Kingdom, Germany and the host of others.

v Working with new technologies: Adapting new frontiers in today’s business world especially in the area of technology advancement is a necessity for all owners of small businesses. The advantages of technologies cannot be over emphasized. Technology will advance production, communication, information and the meeting the expectations of customers. The use of technology will aid in creativity and creative thinking. It is not gain saying that technology contributes positively to the advancement of creativity and creative ideas. Today’s world is a product of advancement in science and technology. With the advancement businesses can tap in to further build the wealth of their creative ideas.

v Taking advantages of the business culture, background and individual characteristics: The home front of a business will tell if there will be any form of creativity or not. For countries that see investment in science, technology and research as a luxury, growth in creativity and creative ideas will surely be at the minimal. Any country that is not giving adequate support to education, building of research centers, funding research, science and technology will surely be at the back seat of growth, development and expansion in the business world. It is very logical to stress that this is a very common situation in the developing nations and countries. Take for instance Aba a place in the eastern part of Nigeria were the Igbos are known for their creative and technical ability but the government do not see any need to develop such area, their concepts and ideologies. But look at Dubai a place that just came up of late receiving all the necessary support from their government. Dubai has turned to a world tourist center and the whole world is going to Dubai. This supposed to be the case with Aba if the needed support and assistance were given to the Igbos by the government. Today Aba would have been a world trade center in Nigeria.   

v Effective utilization of available resources: Creativity means building on what you have to get the very best out of it. Make the best use of available resources is very vital in building creative ideas. Small scale business owners must be able to build on what they have to create new ideas.

v Adapting to the factors facing the business environment: There are factors and challenges facing the business environment. These factors can be internal or external in nature. It is paramount that owners of small scale businesses should be able to come up with in built mechanism to adopt to these factors and move along with it if there is going to be any room for creativity and development.