The power of innovation in building businesses; passion in the world of business is all about small but pragmatic “ideas” or “Winnovations” that are promising and profitable

The power of innovation in building businesses

Published: 2013/12/02

PASSION in the world of business is all about small but pragmatic “ideas” or “Winnovations” that are promising and profitable. One of the most profound books authored by management guru Peter Drucker is “Innovation and Entrepreneurship”. Drucker expressed that “Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship… the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth”. I believe this “new capacity” is all about ideas and a business environment that fosters innovation, helping to create new business opportunities and new markets for new revenue streams. Having said that, history has shown that many technological, cultural and even social barriers were eliminated through ideas (which were at first received with cynicism to no end, and yet, these very same ideas were the ones that changed the world). Across generations, what is constant is the “role and power of innovation” — it makes people, businesses and nations ee things differently.

Innovation can be just a simple word. However, it is the small ideas, insights and improvements that can positively contribute towards better processes, systems, technology, capacity, productivity, efficiency and increased output.
All this is nothing but a summation of what innovation is or can deliver, even from the perspective of small businesses or small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
To make such innovation an end objective for SMEs, SME Corp Malaysia developed the “Innovation Certification for Enterprise Rating and Transformation” (1-InnoCERT), an adapted version of the Korean Innobiz Evaluation System.
1-InnoCERT is a programme to recognise and certify innovative enterprises and SMEs, and to encourage entrepreneurs to venture into high-technology, productivity-led and innovation-driven industries.
Through 1-InnoCERT, companies receive coaching and business advisory to implement innovation systems, processes and business models in order to comply with the standards and certifications required by the market.
Certified companies are given fast-track access to incentives, including funding, for their projects under the Green Lane Policy.
Among the benefits enjoyed by companies with 1-InnoCert is a financing facility in the form of two per cent interest rate rebate each year, subject to a maximum of RM200,000 per year, for participating banks (SME Bank, Bank Pembangunan, Exim Bank, Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad, Agro Bank and Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd).
They also benefit from tax deductions for expenses incurred in obtaining the 1-InnoCERT , pre-approved financial assistance for pursuing research and development, product development and promotion and marketing activities, and the opportunity to participate in offset programmes and government procurement, as well as getting the innovation voucher worth RM400,000.
To date, seven 1-InnoCERT companies have been approved under the Green Lane Policy , with a financial incentive value of RM28.1 million. Similarly, 103 business matching sessions between 1-InnoCERT SMEs and multinational corporations were arranged, with recorded potential sales of RM37.5 million.
Since its inception in 2010, the InnoCERT programme has certified more than 90 SMEs of which 41 are Bumiputera companies.
All these companies are eligible to participate in the annual SME Innovation Award, where the top most innovative SME is entitled to a RM1 million cash prize, while the winners for each of the six categories will receive RM200,000 each. The categories are Manufacturing, Services, ICT and Software Development, Engineering and Industrial Design, Biotechnology and Agro Technology and Green Technology.
I encourage SMEs to participate in the 1-InnoCERT programme, and seize the opportunities for continuous learning, improvement and growth. I call upon the brains behind aspiring SMEs to unleash their potential for innovation by taking a step further from where they started.
As Einstein put it, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”
The soft launch of the SME Innovation Award 2014 will be held on December 17, which will culminate with the award ceremony during the SME Annual Showcase “Smidex 2014” in June next year.
So enrol in the 1-InnoCERT Programme and obtain your certification.
Grab the benefits, get nominated for the award and win big! Log on to www.smecorp.gov.my for more information.
Datuk Hafsah Hashim is the chief executive officer of Small and Medium Enterprise Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp Malaysia).