The Secret to Successful Fashion Business Growth with Innovation

Spoiler: The secret is idea implemetation.

As we work with numerous brands we see one thing in common. Often they have ideas, they know what to do, but they fail miserably on execution. Today we want to simplify the implementation process. Ensuring you cover all of these steps can make a huge difference to the success of innovation and growth in your fashion business.

Idea generation

So it all starts with an idea, but how do you capture them? This requires more than the brainstorming or feedback box somewhere on the wall. The best ideas can occur to anyone in your team, at any time.

Perhaps our development trips for teams can be some assistance in bringing ideas to life.

Evaluation

This is the first evaluation stage, and it should be performed quickly. During this process, you establish a brief business case for the idea, so you can decide what’s realistically worth pursuing. Don’t start without clearly defined purpose.

If you have a Head of Innovation or are using an Innovation Consulting Firm, they should sift through your ideas with a targeted plan. At the same time, we advise remaining open to conversation with the rest of your team.

Is an idea unique, or does it affect everyone?

If it doesn’t look like it’s going to work, change it up or better – archive it. There’s no point to get stuck. Move on to a next idea.

Proof

So the idea’s great, everyone loves it, and it’s been approved by senior leadership – great! There’s still one step before you invest too much time and money – the proof of concept. Perform an experiment that simply demonstrates that the hypothesis is true.

Sketch out your implementation plan, start to define your KPIs, build a prototype (if possible), and select a test group.

Ask yourself: what are the potential pros and cons? What would you expect to see if you tested it on a bigger scale? Once you have this information, it’s time to develop a budget.

Pilot

A pilot is a representative test done with a small group of people: enough so you can see it in action and get real feedback.

It’s likely that you’ll want to iterate by running a couple of these, so you can test different variations on the idea. And don’t tell us it is time consuming. During this stage, you’ll want to establish clear, measurable KPIs for a full rollout. Pay attention to the details. Make sure your internal communications and roll-out plan is on point. Test it, don’t assume. Keep your eyes open and ego aside. Are you communicating your business case strongly enough? Feedback, feedback, feedback. This is your chance to significantly limit risk, as long as you manage the insights correctly.

Roll-out

You should be feeling confident at this point to go fully in.

Remember to consider how this new development is going to be integrated into your existing systems. Chaos and incoherence can ruin your successful fashion business growth.

Benefit realisation

You’ve successfully implemented an idea. Build on this knowledge! Innovation is not one time thing.

Establishing a replicable and reliable innovation process is one of the most valuable contributions you can make to your fashion business.

Continue tracking the success of your initiative against its initial KPIs and make a note of any lessons learned.

Make sure that you include your whole team in the discussions, so they understand why their ideas matter, and what a huge difference they can make in your fashion business growth.

And when you will run out of ideas, you will hear that it is impossible or the effects of the implementation will be poor – bring our experience on your side.