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Creative Ideas
Kishore C.S. November 2001
Inside each
of us we have a creative power. We sometimes get ideas for improvements in
existing practices. I also find such ideas popping up in my mind. What
makes me happy is that I find these ideas implemented somewhere by someone
and turned the idea into a business opportunity. I will share a few such
ideas
1. e-Mail
Alerts
When I was in
India, I was talking to my colleague about necessity of e-mail alerts. I
was tired of keeping track of my bank balance, by frequently asking for
passbook update. At that time my bank was not yet offering online banking
service. Even if online access is there, not everyone has internet access.
But many of us have e-mail access.
I was telling
my colleague that bank should implement a system which will send e-mail
alerts for
- Sending
monthly statement by e-mail
- Send an
alert when an amount greater than x is withdrawn from bank
- Send an
alert when salary is deposited
The system
should allow me set my own rules. If there is a withdrawal of a certain
amount I should get an e-mail alert. etc.
My friend was
joking at me for expressing these wild ideas.
Around one
week after this conversation, I received a brochure from Citibank (India)
announcing e-mail alerts. This process works exactly as I was thinking. I
was glad that someone already implemented this. I took this brochure to my
friend and told him: "See, what I said has already been
implemented." I wanted to use this service.
After coming
to US, I wanted to open Citibank account for this facility. But I was
surprised to note on Citibank site that this facility is available only in
India and not in America. I was surprised. I thought such advanced
features are implemented in US before they come to countries like India.
Anyway, this
was an idea which I had and was happy to see this implemented.
2. Vehicle
maintenance
When I was in
India, I used to spend couple of hours every two months to get my two
wheeler serviced. I knew such a need exists for everyone in company. If
company can sign up with vehicle maintenance company and ask them to
perform service at company itself, this can save lot of time for employees
and company. I felt this will be a motivating factor for employees and
goes ahead to prove that company cares.
Though there
will be some practical difficulties related to this, this idea was in my
mind.
When I came
to US, I saw exactly this idea implemented very well. At our company, A
Service company visits once in a fortnight to perform services like car
wash, oil change for cars belonging to employees. This saves lot of time
and effort for employees. Again I was happy to see this 'idea' in
implementation.
3. Group
Accounting
Recently I
also shared how I implemented group accounting
and how this idea was implemented as business idea on www.buddybills.com
There are lot
of other small ideas that keep popping up in our minds. These are
sometimes very good business ideas. They are 'improvements' to existing
problems and are business opportunities. Though I don't have any
entrepreneurial skills, I keep getting some business ideas also, but don't
find a way to share them. I always look for 'continuous improvement'.
If the improvement is feasible I try to implement them at the earliest
opportunity.
Summary:
I am sure
everyone of us have similar experiences. You have an idea and you don't
know who will find it useful. Many times organizations have open
communication channels: 'Suggestion mechanism', 'Feedback System'.
Sometimes I try to use these modes to share my ideas. I have also tried to
put my ideas into a proper perspective and share them on my site. Some
examples include : HR management system, Marketing
information system.
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