If you want new creative ideas for your small business development then ‘SCAMPER’ is a technique that can help you. ‘SCAMPER’ is a framework of questions that you can use when brainstorming that helps encourage creativity and new ideas.
‘SCAMPER’ is an acronym that stands for:
- Substitute
- Combine
- Adapt
- Magnify (or Minimize)
- Put to another use
- Eliminate
- Rearrange (or Reverse)
Substitute
What part of the product or service could be substituted or replaced for something else?
Combine
Can two or more of your products or services be sold together?
Adapt
Can you change the product or service to better meet customer needs?
Magnify (or Minimize)
Can the value perceived by the customer be increased? Or, can you minimize any complexity and simplify things?
Put to another use
Can the product or service be applied to a different problem or market?
Eliminate
Can you remove anything and at the same time retain the value that the customer enjoys or even better increase it?
Rearrange (or Reverse)
Can the product or service be rearranged and provided in another way? What would the opposite of the current service look like?
Summary
As with all brainstorming techniques it is important to withhold judgement until all ideas have been generated and captured. This is true when using the technique as an individual but becomes crucial if you are using the technique with a team. The reason this point is so vital is because a new idea is vulnerable and cannot initially survive the challenge of rational thinking. The idea must first be nurtured and explored. And within the smallest idea might be the secret that can set your business free!
© Business Set Free Ltd 2013
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