The innovation process

An idea is merely air. You can dream about it, fantasise about it and talk about it, but that’s as far as it goes. Plus no idea is ever unique. Somewhere in the world, at least one other person will have identified the same problem or need, and had the same idea as you. Is that disheartening? Not at all! Because the real challenge lies not in thinking up the idea but rather in turning it into reality.

The first step from idea to realisation is to make your idea concrete. Decide what it actually is – and isn’t. In other words, it’s a matter of increasingly defining and fine-tuning it until you’ve got something that you can explain in a single breath.

The second step is to express your idea using other methods than words alone to appeal to the five senses. Visualise it! Sketch your idea and gather together images that capture its essence. In the case of something edible – hit the kitchen! You need to be able to smell, taste, see and touch it to understand it fully. Only then will it become tangible. Only then will it evolve from an idea into a concept.

You still have a long way to go. My general rule of thumb is that, at best, you’re only 5% of the way to achieving realisation, so you still have 95% of the work ahead of you before your idea can be implemented in the market. The concept needs to be tested. Is it technically, financially and legally viable? Experiment, optimise, calculate – as often as necessary. At the end of all this, your idea will be ready to scale up to a level that is commercially interesting.

This will be followed by trial production runs, risk analysis, HACCP studies, more trial production runs, cost-price calculations, shelf-life studies and stability optimisation. As you can see, the path from idea to realisation is a long one with numerous pitfalls along the route. I know about these pitfalls because I’ve met a lot of people who have travelled this path.

You can now begin to imagine why the idea you devised doesn’t already exist…the person who thought of it before you either wasn’t brave enough to embark on the path or didn’t manage to avoid the pitfalls. In addition to a professional approach, the key ingredients for successful realisation are your own talent, your insight and your courage.

Dennis Favier is a professional food designer and creative director at innovation company TOP bv which translates technological innovations into interesting applications.