The banks are not just confining their innovation agenda to internal processes – they are letting them spill over to their customers.
We all know innovation is important for our small businesses but how important? The below graphic shows the results of a study of around 1500 companies, which demonstrated that innovation can lead to more than 10 per cent sales growth over the baseline performance for innovative firms. What’s more, the study showed that small firms benefit more from innovation strategies for their growth than medium-sized or large companies.* So the million-dollar question is what’s an easy way to increase our innovation levels and growth?
One answer comes from the most unexpected of places – the big banks.
During the last few years, some of the titanic ships in the banking sector have been turning. Long gone are the days of the boring banking culture. Nowadays the major banks are alive with noteworthy efforts. From the CBA’s EFTPOS tablet Albert** to the NAB’s Village, we are seeing the big four putting innovation at their core. But the banks are not just confining their innovation agenda to internal processes – they are letting them spill over to their customers. You can now tap into our banking powerhouses to supercharge your own innovation agenda.
Back in 2014, the CBA joined Westpac and NAB in launching their new centre in Sydney. Dubbed the Innovation Lab, the Commonwealth bank wanted to create a “creative space to connect our people and customers with the future.” Unlike Westpac’s lab it was built in the model of NAB’s Village to be a place where the CBA’s customers can innovate with some great tech and tools. A year later, ANZ would enter the fray with their staff facing Innovation Space in partnership with IBM and then this year with their Bluespace in Singapore.
The most exciting part for your small business and other Australian small businesses is that you can now tap into the innovative capabilities of these banks. Both the CBA and NAB now offer small businesses the opportunity to take part in workshops and extended training to teach small businesses the basic skills that will help them grow their businesses.
In fact, the CBA is currently touring Australia with its pop-up lab visiting all the major cities for a month and inviting small businesses in to explore new innovative business opportunities with the next stop at Perth. NAB are keen for customers to meet in the Village and exchange ideas, educate themselves further and accessthe bank’s internal and external thought leadership.
So if you’re a customer of one of the big banks, get in touch with a team and get access to their world-class innovation skills to build your next growth plan.
* Innovation strategy by firms: do innovative firms grow more? P. Faria and J. Mendonça, Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2011
** https://www.commbank.com.au/business/merchant-services/eftpos-options/in-store/albert.html
Dr Evan Shellshear, CEO, Simultek
