Why Your Creativity Is Your Competitive Advantage

Have you ever wondered what makes companies like Apple, Tesla, Amazon, and many others so successful?

Is it the fact that they offer the best product or service to their customers? It could definitely be.

Is it because they have the biggest marketing budgets? Actually not. In fact, Tesla’s marketing budget is $0.

Yes, that’s right. Zero… dollars. Yip, zilch, nada.

The answer to the question, though, goes a bit deeper than marketing budgets and quality products.

It’s not so much of what they do, but rather how they do it. See, the thing is, these businesses see things differently.

There are no “impossibles” in their business plans.

For example, Apple introduced the iPhone when mobile phones were ugly and unwieldy tools and not much of a fashion statement or lifestyle product.

Its two core features, the touch screen and the App Store laid the foundation for the future of all phones. And it’s a similar story with their other products like the iPad and iPod.

Likewise, Amazon revolutionized the online retail market forever.

By making it easier to shop, deliveries faster, and carrying more products than its competitors, it successfully tapped into the need for instant gratification by users.

What’s striking is that these companies came up with these ideas when the market for their product or service was just the same old, same old.

It’s this out-of-the-box thinking that sets them apart from their competitors. In other words, they’re creative.

And the simple fact is that creativity is not limited to these multi-billion dollar enterprises. It’s vital in any form of entrepreneurship, and you can use it with great success too.

Once you use creativity to stand out from the crowd, you’ll reach success you’ve only thought of as impossible before. But why is creativity your competitive advantage? Let’s take a look.

Creativity Makes Businesses More Resilient

One of the most crucial elements of a successful business is being able to adapt to change effectively and efficiently.

The thing is, there’s constant change around us.

Economies are changing, technology is changing, consumers are changing, and these all have an effect on businesses and how they run. If they can’t change, they simply won’t be successful.

And here creativity plays a key role.

Without creativity and experimentation, these businesses simply won’t adapt effectively to any change. And the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how fast things can change and businesses need to adapt.

An example of the creativity needed would, for instance, be the eat-in restaurant that pivots during times of lockdown to serve meals to diners in their cars in the parking lot like a roadhouse.

Another would be Spotify, which relies on free users who must listen to advertisements.

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke and its effects on businesses became apparent, they inevitably cut their advertising budgets.

To counter this, Spotify began offering original content à la Netflix to increase profitability.

Had these companies continued doing what they were doing before the pandemic, they would have faced a completely different trajectory.

This resilience is what sets them apart from their competitors but it would not have materialized without creativity.

It doesn’t stop there, though. Because creativity is often a collective, and creative companies tend to emphasize teamwork and collaboration more than companies that stick to the traditional way of doing things.

This, in turn, completes the cycle of making them more resilient to change.

Creativity Breeds Innovation

Think of some great ideas that companies came up with. Think, for example, of the iPhone again.

Or maybe think of Uber or Airbnb. Someone came up with the idea, but without taking any further action, those ideas would not have come to fruition. In other words, without innovation, creativity would only remain a mere idea.

So, creativity, in turn, generates innovation to put the ideas into practice.

Because of this, creative companies are more innovative and they challenge the paradigm every step of the way, from the conception of an idea, right through to the end product.

This forces industry to change, and by the time other competitors catch up, it’s time for the next innovative idea to solve consumers’ problems and add value.

Don’t, however, think that innovation is limited to new products or services. Just like the restaurant or Spotify examples, innovation is necessary when businesses need to adapt to changing market conditions.

During the pandemic, for example, there were many businesses that needed to innovate to survive its devastating economic effects. These include:

• The sports industry produced sports retrospectives or broadcast e-sports to fill the gap created by the suspension of live sports.
• Museums and Zoos streamed digital and live content to enable patrons to enjoy what they had to offer from their homes.
• Artists that streamed live shows instead of playing at venues.
• Gyms and fitness studios that hosted virtual boot camps and fitness classes to keep generating revenue when they were forced to close.

Like any new product, these companies had to be creative and innovative in order to stay afloat during tough times.

Removing innovation from the equation, their ideas to stay afloat would’ve remained only that and would’ve led to business failure.

Final Thoughts

What’s clear from this is that creativity is essential to enjoy more success, and by implication, more revenue and profit.

It underpins the resilience needed to adapt to change and the innovation needed to grow, even in challenging times.

Yet, despite this, many businesses still follow a by-the-book approach that follows the rules and dampens creative efforts.

They simply don’t allow any out-of-the-box thinking that doesn’t fall within the guidelines and procedures. In doing so, they’re resistant to change and stifle their growth without realizing it.

So, don’t fall into this same trap.

Let creativity be your competitive advantage. Lead from the front with creative ideas and curiosity, foster and nurture the conditions where creativity can thrive, and innovate to grow your ideas into what you’ve pictured them to be. Once you do this, you’ll stand out from the crowd and your customers will love you for it.