How can some people consistently come up with innovative ideas and put them into action? Most great entrepreneurs I know are successful for one simple reason: They combine their observations of the world with their particular skill set.
Take Montreal entrepreneur David Campbell. In the early 1950s, he returned from the war following a stint as a radio operator. From his army days, he instinctively knew that radio would spawn an information age. He also knew that the first "database" of music was records. Campbell immediately saw the potential of a new technology known as "long-playing records," which spun at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute, and set about importing them from the United States to sell at his small store. At around the same time, when automatic washing machines first hit the market, he knew that low-suds detergent would be in demand--so he imported the All brand, a monster hit.
Campbell was also a pioneer in cable TV. In fact, he was the pioneer. In the early 1950s, Campbell sold TVs, and realized the limitations of antennas. He thus formed Cable TV Inc., negotiating the delivery of cable through underground conduits in Montreal. Then, early in the '60s, he saw the possibilities of paging and jumped into that business. Taking it to the next level, he figured stock quotes could be delivered electronically to brokers--so he started Canada's first electronic quote service later that decade.
I asked Campbell years ago how he managed to find these business winners time after time. He said he imagined what he could do with something new, and then considered all the benefits that product or service would bring to customers. By doing so, he took his mundane skills as a radio engineer and parlayed them into a fortune.
The lesson I see in Campbell's experience: Innovators don't really innovate. Rather, they see a future that incorporates their view of the present. That might be a shock to those of you who think you can come up with a great idea and put it into action all by yourself. I believe that innovation and the development of new markets begins with customers. A recent telecommunications example: iPod radio, which provides daily broadcasts you can download to your MP3 music player.
Campbell's story did not end with electronic quotes. Somewhere along the way, he and his wife fixed their minds on collecting art. They've acquired and sold more art than some New York dealers, and in the beginning almost always bought pieces by unknown artists whose works eventually rose in value. At one point, the Campbells had amassed one of the world's largest collections of Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch (remember The Scream?). Who knew that one day Norwegians would enjoy enormous wealth when oil was discovered in the North Sea? And who knew that they would want to spend a chunk of it reclaiming their national masterworks?
You can see, then, that successful entrepreneurs don't just have a snappy new invention, talent or concept that they want to sell. They don't just see a trend developing and have a vision of the future. They also see things that lots of people might actually need or want. The best of those entrepreneurs have the practical skills to run an organization themselves or to pick the right people to do it for them. And the very, very best of them, like Campbell, repeat the process over and over.
Let's carry Campbell's business acumen forward to today. If I were thinking like him, I'd be imagining how to reduce people's reliance on expensive internet access through regular cable and phone companies. I'd research the industry for new communications technologies--Mesh Radio, WiMax 802.16REVd or broadband wireless phones. Parks Associates, a Dallas-based telecommunications research and consulting firm, thinks that Asia will adopt this potentially ultracheap new technology before the U.S. What form will it take? I'd study various scenarios, form my own view of the future and imagine how a spanking new technology might fit the bill.
Campbell recently sat down and wrote a book called Do You Really Need an MBA? His message: A lot of things that you already know might help you do what he did. It can be as simple as imagining what would happen in the future if you started a high-end pizza joint. Or it might involve your hobby of, say, finding parts for your old car. Why not start an on-line service to help others do what you do so well?
My point is this: You have to know only one thing, be good at it, persist with it and always want to do it better. First, though, you have to imagine a future in which your idea plays a central role. And remember, every large business starts out as a small business. Michael Dell began his built-to-order PC business in his dorm room. He realized early on that PCs would become a commodity--ergo, the company that could manufacture and deliver PCs at the lowest cost would triumph, not the company with the sexiest technology. You can start your own little Dell right now.