Innovation In Boosting Start-Ups, Making Work Transparent And Efficient

It is true that great start-ups and professional non-profit organisations alike want to have a positive impact in today’s world, while doing the best job possible to attract the finest talent to do so.

While non-profits may have a clear agenda for humanitarian, natural or social problems, start-ups can also solve problems that are sometimes overlooked. Innovative projects are particularly helpful in an environment where so little of what is going on in the world can be described as predictable.

The list of tech-based start-ups and what they have done in the last ten to fifteen years is long, and includes everything from Google, Spotify, Uber, etc…all having had different rationales and goals. These examples have of course been the big successes. They have made huge impacts in their respective industries and these above examples have close to monopolised their respective trades in terms of being great successes.

Of course, as well as being ambitious in terms of boosting their business, there is also the matter of profit. Not every company can boast this level of success, but in terms of opportunity, this is as good a time as any to produce something fresh that can be of benefit looking into an uncertain future. This will be echoed in an example of a company that has had to adapt to unexpected change while maintaining the same level of interest in clients, as well as how Submit gets involved in helping busy organisations thrive at the same time.

Messaging and involvement in companies; positive examples going forward

As long as any new business or start-up is transparent in its initial messaging, clients and employees alike will understand the mission statement being clear and accessible. While special talent is a key area in selecting the right approach, the clients themselves also value the company’s outlook and place in the wider scope of things.

Deloitte has a report from their survey (which can be accessed here) finding that millennial workers expect their business to boost a positive social impact over profit aims (39-24 in favour of, according to the findings). This suggests that a lot of activity in innovative areas also pushes towards social change in today’s business world.

That initial phase of messaging can be key for a lot of start-ups too, as it attracts clients from both sides of the spectrum, and also helps in understanding a company’s motivation. In the case of an initiative known as IGNITE, there have been successful approaches made between graduate entrepreneurs and how to get a business idea off the ground.

The company has made their mission statement one of working with fresh ideas, a joint initiative that is run with Cork City Council, the local enterprise offices of Cork City, as well as University College Cork.

Ignite’s director Eamonn Curtin has had a very positive experience in using Submit to facilitate and keep track of any applications from various candidates. He notes that Submit ‘‘(has) provided an effective platform to capture, track, share and assess applications across all our start-up initiatives.”

Following the partnership with Submit, Eamonn and his team now shortlist applications at a faster, more efficient rate than before. This aids the group to invite successful candidates to an interview stage, and assessing the potential from that point onwards.  Eamonn goes on to say that Submit ‘’certainly makes life easier at the interview stage. We can share the applications with the panellists well in advance, and when our panel is talking with the founders, they can easily refer to the application’’.

The opportunities for further contributions and partnerships can only increase and build from that point onwards. “I’m passionate about entrepreneurs getting the most out of Ignite. I think it would add even more value to our founders if they had a sort of online library that they could always look back on.”

Further details and more in-depth information regarding this stage and other case studies can be read here;

How companies working with start-ups adapt to a sudden and forced change

Hong Nhi Nguyen works for Tech BBQ, a Denmark company founded in 2013. Since its inception, the aim of the organisation has been to provide a platform for start-ups and scale-up companies, while ‘matchmaking’ with potential investors along the way. Tech BBQ has usually held live events in the Scandinavian region in order to expand the networks of different start-up companies and stakeholders. This usually helps the companies expand on networking opportunities and collaborations, as Hong notes; ‘at some of the physical conferences we had up to 8,000 people flying in from around the world.’ 

Once the pandemic came into sharp focus, many aspects of the company had to adapt suddenly. A September event was shifted to digital format, which meant the platform was adjusted to something new.  Hong explains that, while challenging, there have been upsides to this necessary digital switch;

‘Future events are now being explored around the virtual boom, and while this is a new trajectory, there is a hope that the region can be a new type of Silicon Valley. This will help by focusing on the right framework and conditions in creating innovation hubs.’

The company works in tandem with the Danish government in striving for this particular goal, and puts the spotlight on Denmark in terms of innovation. The monthly planning schedules adapted to more ‘face to face’ or online based planning, and took the form of workshops and ‘networking ‘dinners in preparation for any unforeseen cancellations of live meet ups.

Hong hopes that this will benefit the company going forward ‘in trying to explore virtual social networking, we can also dice into start-up capital and investors can meet face to face and save one aspect of time. We work with all forms of start-ups and are always looking into more digital opportunities such as ‘virtual rooms’ and other streamable events.’ Tech BBQ is proof of how a lot of exciting start-ups can still innovate and create, even in a time of great change.

How Submit aids companies in both accelerator and incubator capacities

Similarly, at Submit, we like to be of benefit to any organisations meeting such challenges. Helping an entrepreneur out from the beginning, where forms and applications are necessary to proceed to the next stage, through to more established companies that have experience but wish to adapt to a more digital climate and look for new challenges within that.

These measures would help a given organisation’s clients make better use of application procedures as well as boosting the opportunities within to engage with new start-ups and other potential partnerships.

Digitising will help keep everything on track in terms of focusing on new and existing projects, keeping all the necessary information to hand and being prepared for any changes along the way.

How Submit manages and provides the software for these kinds of purposes can be read here;

For more advice and information on this topic, the team at Submit are waiting for you to get in touch and help you out with a free trial. Looking towards the future and accelerating this potential is the way forward!