Every innovative idea comes from trying to fill a need or changing the way we do something. You can do all the work to create the most incredible solution to whatever problem you’re trying to solve, but if the people you’re making it for don’t want it, you’re not helping anyone. So what does it take to go from idea to innovation?

The first key step is to figure out what you’re building. Once you know what problem you want to solve or what you want to create, you have to make sure you know who’s going to use it. After all, every product is made for someone. It’s easy to come up with a broad demographic statement about who uses your product, but actual engagement is what really matters.

In order to engage your audience, get their input at every opportunity you can. If the data already exists from someone else having asked similar questions, by all means use it but ask questions yourself. Get both short, quantitative responses to guide your decisions as well as more qualitative responses when you can so you can get a more well rounded understanding of your user. Every bit of data used properly should help guide the development of your venture.

With a constant stream of input your end product can more accurately match your audience’s needs. Just because something already exists to offer a similar service doesn’t mean you can’t do it better. Historically it was important to move first but this doesn’t have the same significance in today’s world. Myspace and Friendster came around before Facebook after all, but only one is still around as a niche social media platform. Facebook was able to learn lots of their own lessons, but by observing the audiences and needs of their predecessors, they were able to develop a product that the marketplace was ripe for and people wanted to use. The rest is history. 

Venture growth and product refinement is never ever finished really. Being successful means you keep building and growing, using feedback to help improve as you go. The best way to get ideas for where to improve is to listen to the people who use your product. Have an open channel for communication or be actively listening to what your audience is saying. Some input will be nicer than others, but all of it comes from a place of wanting your product to be better. Listening to this chatter and feedback will keep you busy in the long run, and may even lead to the next big thing!

Ask anyone who has failed at something, and they will tell you failure is a critical part of the entrepreneurial process. Entrepreneurs understand failing doesn’t make you a failure, it’s part of who you are. Learning to come out of a failure with a new perspective or understand will give you the mindset you need to be a successful entrepreneur.

You’ve probably used Amazon before. One of the world's most successful online marketplaces, Amazon is now one of the biggest corporations in the United States. Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, started small too. Before the success that was Amazon, Bezos went through multiple failed online marketplaces, including an online auction site flop called “zShop”. The biggest lesson here is Bezos’ ability to use his repeated failures in the online marketplace industry to improve his product and build something that people truly benefit from using.

What to do after failure:

1. Take Time to Heal.

Yes, everything we’ve said about failure is true. At the same time, you’re allowed to be sad, angry, and emotional. Being in tune with yourself, and pausing for a little bit to regroup will help you move on successfully after a failure. It’s important to understand what went wrong and what could’ve been done better. Lastly, ensure that you take care of yourself, mentally, emotionally, and physically.

2. There is No Success Without Failure.

Failure is an integral part of being successful. Being able to grow and move on successfully from failures, from the smallest mistake to the biggest flop, learning and growing in everything is key.

3. Learning, Accepting and Being Honest About Mistakes.

Be honest with yourself. Why did you fail? Do your best to put your emotions aside and really think about what went wrong. The best way to turn a failure into a success is clearly pinpointing what went wrong, and ensuring that your bases are covered the next time around. Think carefully about what happened- Can you use the experience you gained through failing to improve your business or yourself, maybe even gain a unique advantage in a growing industry?

Again, the key is to be honest. If you don’t spend the time to truly look at what went wrong and how it could be improved, you’ve failed at failing.

4. Create a Positive Mindset, Hit Reset, and Move On.

After you’ve taken a moment to understand your failure, now it’s time to be positive. Being positive leads to positivity. If you constantly think about your failure and demean yourself about it, you’ll lose the plot. It’s important to stay positive throughout, because that will lead to small victories, leading to the motivation to keep going. It’s all about the mindset. It’s all about personal growth, learning from your mistakes, and having the courage to keep going.

Mission and vision play integral roles in the development of you and in the development of some of the biggest brands and companies you love. Every organization has a mission and vision that helps guide and define who and what they are and where they want to go. How can you use this for you?

Mission statements are short one or two sentence sound bites that define you are a whole. They help establish what you are all about.

Vision statements define your future: what is your blue sky, and where do you want to go.

Sure, sounds great and but why does it matter?

Leading CEOs use mission and vision to help refine and streamline how they use their time and how to strategize what to prioritize and make their focus. Mission and vision will help you live and work with purpose and navigate through life’s options with greater ease. Let’s put it to work.

Let’s look at Patagonia. Their vision is to “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”

Hypothetically, if Patagonia was in the process of expanding it’s business and trying to secure funding and partnerships, looking closely at who it’s working with can make a massive difference on the appearance of the company. If Patagonia was to partner with British Petroleum, for example, it would be hard to argue that the business is trying to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. In fact, such a partnership would be prime targeting for competition brands like North Face, Arc'Teryx, and Columbia.

For Patagonia, taking the brand and vision into the process happens at all steps. From procuring the materials in an environmentally friendly way, to managing the environmental footprint of production facilities, even pledging 10% of sales back to funding environmental groups. A clear mission and vision allows the organization to focus their efforts, prioritizing what’s important to them.

Start Small.

The key to making meaningful, lasting change in your life is to create good habits. There’s an abundance of scientific articles showing how willpower is a limited resource. Do yourself a favour and stop relying on it! Taking things slowly will allow you to create good habits. If you try and “turn over a new leaf” not only will you be cliche, but your changes likely won’t stick. The key to making lasting change is by starting small.

Plan ahead.

A little planning can go a long way. Taking some time to figure out the vision and goals of your company will give you something to work towards, something to evaluate. With a plan in place you can start evaluating the future needs of your company. Planning will help ensure long term growth and continued relevance of your company.

Anticipate obstacles.

Don’t get angry, get ready. In the real world things often don’t go exactly as planned. Anticipating obstacles will allow you to stay calm and cool and collected while you problem solve. Take a second to think about what’s most likely to go wrong and find the weak points in your plan. Being ready for something to go wrong will allow you to react quickly, smoothing out problems as they arise.

Make a few smaller goals, instead of one big goal.

You’re more likely to complete your big goal or project if you separate it into a few smaller ones. Spread out deadlines throughout the year to give you consistent motivation and evaluation as you go. Often New Year’s resolutions are forgotten rather quickly, separating your big task into a few smaller ones will help you be consistent with your goals.

Go for it!

We’ve been interviewing entrepreneurs across the country. Consistently, everyone we’ve talked to has said that you have to just start to become an entrepreneur. There’s never going to be a perfect time, don’t make excuses and just get going! There’s no time like the present, after all.

Ever see someone who is killing it and wonder what it takes to get there? Not a single person is an overnight success. Pretty much every ‘overnight success’ took a few years, but what about the first few steps? And more importantly, what about those first few goals?

Developing your goals is critical for your own success. Having goals means you will know how to measure your own achievements, and keep yourself accountable. Our pro-tip of the month is to get S.M.A.R.T. with your goals. For more information on activating without getting aimless, take our online course #goals here. 

Before you say yes to an event, a party or a job you should ask yourself: who, what, where, why, and how. Qualifying your goals is the smart thing to do, and here is how:

Specific. Give the who, why, and how right away with your goal setting.

I am going to run the Vancouver marathon for charity next May to get in better shape and to raise awareness about homelessness.

Measurable. You got to give yourself a clearly defined measurement of success.

I will complete the 2018 half marathon.

Achievable. Setting yourself up for success means you have taken the right actions, have the right amount of skills to move forward. Making goals a stretch but inline with clear steps you’ve taken towards it makes it achievable.

I have been running and training, and have developed a clear training schedule to get me to where I need to be.

Results driven. How will this goal change you? You need to know why you are working towards this goal to make sure it is working towards a bigger picture.

I want to complete this under 3 hours, accelerating and changing my level of personal fitness.

Time-bound. A goal is a stepping stone, because you are always moving forward. It is good to give your goals an expiration date, to help you stay motivated and on track to bigger and better things.

I will complete this in the May 2018 marathon.

Now, it is time to get S.M.A.R.T. with your goals and start turning those daydreams into action!

You know you want to build an idea into something, something big, something impactful. But where do you start with even getting that idea off the ground? We got you covered, with four tips that will help you build an idea.  

1. Do what you love.

Capitalize on your skills and work with people that can mentor you in areas you lack. Being passionate and intentional about your idea will empower you to find new and innovative solutions to your problem.

2. Look for things that annoy you, and solve them.

Those little frustrations you deal with on a regular basis? Maybe other people have the same problem. Solving problems is the basis of entrepreneurship, if you can make your life or the lives of people around you easier, you’ve got yourself the beginnings of an idea.

3. Talk to people, you already do it everyday!

You can’t do it alone! Bouncing ideas off others will give you new perspectives and points of view you might not have considered. Find people with opinions contrary to yours, you need a diverse range of personalities! Often we’ll find something that we missed when trying to explain an idea to another person.

4. Look at where you spend your time, and where you don’t.

Time is a valuable currency these days. Attention and followers are often used as currency. Looking at where you spend your time, and how you can improve the processes around your own life might lead to ideas for a greater audience.

Inspiration lies around you. Make sure you tap into these four unique ways of finding you big business idea. The more you engage with you everyday, the more you will see how business can change the way we live.

Vancouver, BC, November 6th, 2017- GradusOne, a Vancouver-based non-profit focused on building business acumen and skills for youth under 25 years of age, has today merged with League of Innovators (LOI), to amplify reach and impact related to youth innovation and education.

LOI founder, Ryan Holmes, recognized both the importance and possibility that can come from like-minded collaboration, which made GradusOne a natural fit. By joining forces under a single umbrella, LOI programming can impact a bigger audience through more in-person programming in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto.

“GradusOne’s goal has always been to elevate career and leadership opportunities for youth in Vancouver,” says Manny Padda, the founder of GradusOne. “By merging with League of Innovators, we’re expanding our reach nationally and accelerating our impact on innovation and entrepreneurship in Canada.”

Through the merger, GradusOne will donate its assets and staff to League of Innovators, while GradusOne founder Manny Padda will join the Board of Directors.

Over the next two months, LOI will host events across B.C., as well as in Calgary, Toronto, and Boston. This will include unique workshops with post secondary schools and renowned organizations such as WE and Microsoft. To get involved, request LOI courses in your region or become a partner, please visit  www.theleagueofinnovators.com.

About GradusOne

GradusOne is a non-profit designed to help youth discover their options and focus their career by providing access to in-person programming and events. Founded in 2014 by Manny Padda the founder and Managing Partner of New Avenue Capital, Sam Thiara, and Manisha Narula, GradusOne gives high school students, post-secondary learners, and recent graduates the tools and skills they need to succeed professionally.

Visit us online at theleagueofinnovators.com | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter

Contact:

Joanna Buczkowska-McCumber, Executive Director, The League of Innovators

Email: Joanna@theleagueofinnovators.com | Tel: +1-778-389-2731

Learn how Canada’s youngest entrepreneurs will now have access to a new helping hand as they seek to transform the country, thanks to Ryan Holmes' new philanthropic venture. Read more here. 

Tech CEO Launches Charity to Mobilize the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

Vancouver, BC, October 23, 2017 — Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite, is launching a new philanthropic venture to support the next generation of Canadian entrepreneurs. The League of Innovators (LOI) will focus on shortening the path to success for Canadians aged 15 to 25 and amplifying their impact as innovators.

“Over the last few years Canada’s Global Innovation Index ranking has fallen to 15th globally,” says Holmes, the founder of LOI. “We should be one of the most innovative economies in the world and by investing in young entrepreneurs, I believe we can make a long-term impact locally and globally.”

The LOI series of programs will provide support and resources to young entrepreneurs from discovery to acceleration, through education, mentorship, and experiences.

For example, one of the courses being offered will be on “prototyping and entrepreneurship.” This is being developed in partnership with Microsoft with the first iteration running this November in Vancouver. Additional in-person crash courses, along with a suite of online sessions, will be rolled out over the coming months.  

“I was a young entrepreneur myself, and I’m now in the fortunate position to help accelerate and support young innovators and disruptors by leveling the playing field and helping them to overcome unique challenges such as credibility, access to funds, and networks,” says Holmes.

“Entrepreneurship comes in many forms and has many faces. Our program is created to foster learning outside the classroom to attract youth from diverse paths to engage in taking ownership of their future through entrepreneurship,“ says Joanna Buczkowska-McCumber, executive director of the League of Innovators.

“Our commitment to LOI is simple, we are raising up a community to create dynamic growth and leadership within the next generation,” says Edoardo De Martin, General Manager of Microsoft Vancouver.

From environmental sustainability to consumer packaged goods to the next technology giant, all of these innovations will be driven by the next generation. Join LOI as a partner to engage with youth across Canada and fuel tomorrow’s leaders today. For more information, to enroll in online sessions, or to find events near you, visit theleagueofinnovators.com.

Press Release Issued for Distribution on October 23rd, 2017. 

Read about the LOI: Live Pitch prizes such as a $10,000 investment and mentorship from Holmes at Hootsuite, on Trend Hunter.