Have you ever used sticky notes? You know those yellow pieces of paper that you stick on your fridge or your board. What about scotch guard? Or scotch tape? These seemingly basic products have been in use for most of our lives yet we never question who first invented them.
3M, or to use its former name Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation. If you ask it’s CEO Inge G Thulin what his company does he’ll tell you that they are “in the business of innovation”. The company, which was started in 1902 with the aim of being a mining corporation, has been at the forefront of innovation for nearly a century. It has a staggering presence worldwide with offices in 60 countries and a foothold in 200. 3M owes its formidable strength to its unusual corporate culture, which comfortably fosters innovation and interdepartmental cooperation, backed by a massive research & development budget, which in 1997 exceeded $1 billion. Because of this, 3M ranks as a leader in—and in many cases a founder of—a number of important technologies, including pressure sensitive tapes, sandpaper, protective chemicals, microflex circuits, reflective materials, and premium graphics (and the products mentioned at the beginning).
So it’s another multibillion dollar company, what does this have to do with us in KJSCE? A lot if you want to become an entrepreneur. Every entrepreneur knows that everything starts with an idea, something that is useful and can be marketed to the general populace. 3M proves that these ideas are not rare and don’t need to be ground-breaking. They just need to be good enough to make people’s lives easier. 3M constantly comes up with new ideas (so much so that they often need to incubate them) which are both smart and completely obvious once they come up with it.
So how do they do it? How do they come up with seemingly simple ideas that escape everybody else? The answer (I hope) will help some of you budding entrepreneurs come up with your own ideas.
Here are some of the things which 3M looks into when developing an idea.
1. Research
Know the market. Know what the customers need and what they want. Ask them what would make things easier for them and how much they would pay for it. Market research is a vital step in any enterprise.
For example, we all have laboratory courses every semester which require write ups. Most of us either take it from the Xerox centre or print them ourselves but wouldn’t it be easier if you could just get the write ups delivered right to your class? This is exactly the service Writing Wonders provides.
They knew this idea would work because they asked their classmates whether this service would be useful to them. They set the price according to the survey they conducted and accordingly took orders and contacted printers.
2. Have a broad base
This is especially important for us. We as engineers tend to close ourselves off into our fields but the truth is every major idea in the last 25 years has grown from an amalgamation of different areas of technology and services. Do not hesitate to step out of your comfort zone to explore other options.
3. Talk to other people
This ties in with the earlier point about having a broad base. You should talk to people from other fields that are in the same boat as you. You never know when inspiration might strike but it makes sense to expose yourself to as many young entrepreneurs and innovators as you can. It will not only help you make contacts and get to know people who might help you on the future but can also help you make a roadmap about what you need to do once you develop your product/idea.
4. Give yourself time
This cannot be stressed enough. Give yourself time to think through what you want to do. Rushing into things can only lead to disappointment. Google first started as a way of organising large amounts of data, which developed into page ranking which then went on to become a search engine. You never know where your ideas may take you, so foster and nurture them.
5. Do not hesitate
This might seem as the anti-thesis of the last point but is equally important. Once you have your idea put it into action. Take the necessary risks and do not be afraid of failing. Xerox had developed a valid GUI years before Apple but Apple was the first company to have a graphic interface which revolutionised the home computer market.
A failed idea does not mean that you have failed. It just means that you have to pat yourself on the back for coming up with a solution that no one else thought of and after that ask yourself ‘What’s my next idea?’.
The Entrepreneurial Vein 