Nobody wants to do business with a company that’s stuck 10 years in the past. Even businesses that build their brands on nostalgic tropes like having an old-fashioned approach to customer service or building products using time-honored methods need to be seen to be at the cutting edge when it comes to benefit their customers.

Keeping Your Finger On The Pulse... No Matter How Busy You Are

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It’s no longer a novelty for businesses to be one step ahead of the curve in terms of their approach to innovation, business trends, and technology, they need to be a part of what establishes the curve.

All entrepreneurs want to embrace innovation. After all, innovation is one of the primary building blocks of an entrepreneur. Everyone who forsakes the daily grind to plant their flag on the business landscape demonstrates an innovative attitude and an aptitude for investing in themselves and taking calculated risks.

That said, the life of an entrepreneur is rarely conducive to having a finger on the pulse. It’s hard to keep track of the latest trends and technological innovations when you’re working 50-60 hours a week and spend a lot of time up to your elbows in the operations of your enterprise rather than focusing on the big picture.

Here are some pointers to help you keep a finger on the pulse in your industry without compromising your productivity… No matter how busy you are.

Always Be Mentoring

Mentoring and coaching are invaluable assets to the business world. Not only will you be empowering young people to start their own businesses or learn more about the practicalities of running a business, you’ll also learn from them.

After all, learning should always be a two-way street. By working closely with young graduates and undergraduates you will, through them, learn of new processes, technologies, and innovations in your field that you’ve just been too busy to stay abreast of.

Bright young minds are also always great about lending a fresh perspective to your business which can create the prime conditions for innovation.

Be Prepared To Trust In, And Learn From Others

Nobody knows your business like you do, but trying to do everything yourself can lead your business to operate in an operational and ideological echo chamber which can stunt growth and allow your competitors to gain the upper hand over you.

It’s important to trust in the knowledge and expertise of others, whether that’s through entrusting your technological infrastructure to IT companies in your area, working collaboratively with a digital marketing company, picking the brains of your peers or reaching out to more seasoned entrepreneurs whom you know and respect.

Your business doesn’t operate in a vacuum and neither should you!

Read Voraciously

You never know where that next important flash of inspiration will come from, and in order to create one must always consume first,

Whether that’s by making sure you subscribe to a range of magazines and journals, setting up alerts when anyone tweets about innovations in your field, following influencers in your chosen field on social media or reading the autobiographies of those you admire.

The more spheres of influence you allow to encroach on your conscious mind the more you can cherry pick the ideas and processes that you think will work for your businesses and find ways to adapt those that could work with a little tweaking.