Creativity in business isn’t dead, though it may often seem that way. Instead, it’s a conscious choice that you can call up—or not. What’s your choice?
Let’s be honest. How much creativity do you see in businesses around Bahrain? I’m not claiming there isn’t any—only that the amount and level of creativity have a long way to go. Yes, we all love and enjoy creativity—but why can’t we be creative?
It’s Too Risky
As islanders, we don’t like to take risks. If you are reading Startup Bahrain, I assume you’re pro-entrepreneurship or even an entrepreneur yourself; but we can’t deny we live in a relaxed society that considers risk to be a danger zone.
In one common example, we have a business owner who has invested a considerable amount of money and time into his or her business. Assuming this business owner is sane, he or she will always consider new advertising strategies with some level of risk in mind. On the other hand, we have a marketing executive working for a private company who would like to keep that job, and works conservatively because any decisions made are his or her responsibility.
If we take a look at international companies, many have reached the top of their industries by taking high risks. Others have stopped growing because they stopped taking risks and lost their position in the market. Risk is a double-edged sword.
The Boss Doesn’t Like It
The client doesn’t like it—or perhaps he showed the idea to his whole family during last Friday’s family lunch, and they thought it was a stupid one. If you work in design, I’m sure you know exactly what I mean.
Pride drives decision-makers, in many cases, to go against good decision-making. The solution to this problem arrives only when they understand their weak points, and ask for help in deciding upon matters they don’t completely understand.
“Pride drives decision-makers, in many cases, to go against good decision-making.
The Marketing Budget Myth
Each day, we drive by hundreds of street lamp posts that are hard to read, with irrelevant images and misleading messages. Advertisements are not creative anymore, and marketing agencies makes us believe that the more money we put into advertisements, the better results they bring us. With the high number of marketing agencies in Bahrain, it’s hard to decide which one to trust.
Considering the insane price of advertising in Bahrain, we should be focusing more on low-budget, word-of-mouth efforts, like events and social media campaigns, to create buzz. When you create a word-of-mouth campaign, make sure it’s relevant to both your business and your customers. Invest more time (and less money) in planning it.
I See Copycats
Copycats are the opposite of creative, because their solution to their own failure is to simply copy a successful example. If you are tempted to copy creative work done by someone else, ask yourself whether it truly suits your business concept, and whether or not you can improve upon it. Outright copying of another business must have substantial creativity (or a price cut) added—otherwise, it will fail.
I started out by pointing at copycats, but if you are creative enough to change an existing concept into an appeal to a different market or the solution to a different need, you’re not a copycat.
“Big investors consider creativity too risky, and would rather take already-successful concepts through franchises.
Franchises Fail
Big investors consider creativity too risky, and would rather take already-successful concepts through franchises. Investors who bring in franchises justify the high investment by increasing prices, and attract customers by forcing the buzz through heavy advertising. This kills many local, creative ideas. We end up walking through a mall full of foreign concepts: hundreds of shops with no sign of local culture.
The solution to this conflict is not to go head-to-head with franchises. Start a new concept that targets a different segment instead of going after the general mass market. Your business model has to be small, and able to grow as its popularity grows. Deliver an extraordinary product to five customers instead of an ordinary product to hundreds, and you’ll create a word-of-mouth epidemic.
If it so happens that you’re a big investor, don’t give your money to a franchise when you can make your own concept. You’ll end up as a franchiser yourself. Bahrain has the required talent to create good concepts and good products. If you’re planning to start a business, take your time, and make sure you have a solid concept that works—both here and internationally.
