What's your secret to funding and managing innovation projects?

1 Identify your innovation goals

Before you start any innovation project, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and why. What problem are you trying to solve? What value are you creating for your customers, your business, or your industry? How does your innovation align with your strategic objectives and priorities? Having a well-defined and compelling innovation goal will help you justify your investment, attract support and collaboration, and guide your decision-making throughout the project.

2 Explore your funding options

When planning an innovation project, you may need to secure funding from different sources. Internal funding involves allocating a portion of your existing budget or revenue, which gives you more control and flexibility, yet may limit your resources. Alternatively, external funding entails seeking funds from outside your organization such as grants, loans, or venture capitalists. This can provide you with more resources and exposure, but also comes with increased competition and compliance. Lastly, co-funding requires partnering with other organizations or stakeholders who contribute to the project financially or in-kind. This can help leverage complementary skills and resources, yet may involve more coordination and compromise.

4 Adopt an agile approach

Innovation is not a linear or predictable process; it requires experimentation, iteration, and adaptation. To manage your innovation project effectively, you should adopt an agile approach that involves planning, executing, reviewing, and learning. Specifically, you need to define the scope, timeline, and deliverables of your project and break them down into manageable tasks and milestones. You should also implement your tasks and test your assumptions and hypotheses with tools such as prototypes and user feedback. Additionally, you should evaluate your progress with metrics that reflect your innovation goal and value proposition. Finally, you must identify what works and what doesn't in order to improve your project and make adjustments as needed.

5 Communicate your innovation story

Throughout your innovation project, you need to communicate your innovation story to your stakeholders, such as customers, employees, funders, and partners. Your innovation story should include your goal, value proposition, process, and impact. Communicating this story will help you engage with your stakeholders by building trust and loyalty, inform them of your achievements and challenges, and inspire them with your creativity and vision. This will invite them to participate in and contribute to your project, while also keeping them updated on its progress. Ultimately, it will motivate them to support and celebrate your project.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?