By Steven Orpwood

July 2024

 

New ideas are not cheap. There might be an occasional epiphany, but generally to develop new ideas, and subsequently new products, there’s a financial implication. There have been instances where governments have funded research and development, but unless there are safeguards in place the ideas generated via this route are taken up by multinational corporations (MNCs), and the profits never find their way back into the public purse. So, it takes an organisation with deep pockets to fund research, and since this tends to be the domain of the MNC the discoveries are kept by them and monetised to pay back the initial investment. The monetisation will generally involve the creation of a one-size-fits-all product, which is good for many but certainly not all. 

 

However, there is a large market for niche products that could be designed and built using the “big ideas” developed by the MNCs. These niche products create benefit for all, as they satisfy a market that will not use the one-size product and are often industry or use-case specific. They address an issue untouched by the “big idea” and therefore do not harm the bottom line of the MNC. These niche products are very often created by smaller entrepreneurs, who take the one-size products and adapt them to develop new ideas of their own. The SMEs generally have their ear to the ground, know what’s going on in specific markets, often understand the original tool at a detailed level and have smaller, dynamic teams who can innovate and develop quickly. This symbiosis is crucial for all stakeholders to benefit. There is no structure to this process but it is one of those things that often just “works”.

 

And when it does work, the results can be beautiful. It is then up to us, as consumers, to ensure we are not swayed by the mainstream and their expensive marketing, ending up with a product that doesn’t quite do the job we need, and instead look for off-shoot products that may well suit our requirements far more than their better-known counterparts. 

 

We at Aim are proud to produce innovative products, that are seen by major public and private sector organisations as key to their business model. Our solutions address real-life problems, and are recognised by global ranking organisations as comparable to those produced by MNCs, delivered at a fraction of the cost.  If you would like to see our products, dataBelt® and dataServe® in action, please contact us for more information.