Many businesses dream of capturing new markets by diversifying or developing new products. It’s Gordon Venters's job to help them do so successfully, as one of Scottish Enterprise’s team of innovation specialists.

How do you define innovation?

At Scottish Enterprise we describe innovation as ‘the successful exploitation of new products, services or business models’.

The ‘successful’ part of that sentence is very important. This isn’t about hailing innovation as a great thing in itself.

There’s clear evidence that innovative companies perform better and derive real business benefits. We’re all about making innovation count for the business.

What kind of companies should be thinking about innovation?

I find it almost unthinkable that any company wouldn’t be innovating in some way! There are very few companies still selling the same products in the same way as they were ten years ago.

We work with people who have an idea for a new business or product, but aren’t quite sure how to put it into practice. But we also work with global companies who might have their own research and development programme – and with all sizes of business in between.

What expertise do you bring?

I’ve spent 30 years in the technology industry. I’ve been involved in starting up businesses and running small companies, but I’ve also been a small cog in a large corporate.

All the team come with similarly wide experience. But we also know a lot of people with expertise in different aspects of commercialisation, so we can bring the right resources to bear for our clients.

How do businesses innovate, and what can you do to help them?

Diversification is one obvious way to innovate. For instance, I’ve been working with a company which sells fruit, and decided to try to use their excess end-of-season fruit in a completely new product.

This was completely out of their comfort zone. We’ve been able to provide guidance and advice in areas such as brand creation, marketing, formulation of the product, factory controls and establishing initial customer relationships. We can also help with financial assistance to reduce the risk of new product innovation.

What are the challenges to innovation?

There are sometimes dark moments where companies are spending money without being sure of the returns. One of the things we’re able to do is confirm that these are relatively routine challenges that can be overcome, and boost their confidence a bit.

Many firms in the games industry, for example, reach a stage where they want to have their own technology rather than supplying services to others. It’s challenging to invest time and money in that, while turning off the tap of income from existing customers. We can act as a sounding-board and help them do that in a systematic way.

What’s the best way to start developing a new product or service?

I would focus on articulating the market need for the product. If you have a limited budget, spend money on really understanding whether somebody, somewhere has a need for your idea.

There’s revealing research which shows that the most successful companies are the ones that avoid ‘moonshots’. They’re good at the creative aspect of ideas, but also at carefully selecting the idea that best fits their capabilities, and having procedures to execute it in a sensible time frame.

How can businesses contact you for help?

Contact us  or call us on 0845 607 8787.