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Does your team spend hours at the drawing board, wondering how to be innovative? They likely think that innovation has to be something brand new – but this isn’t true. In fact, you can find innovation from products and processes that already exist. Look at Tefal, the cookware manufacturers, most people know them as the creators of non-stick pans but they had a much greater start. The material used for these pans was originally used in space travel on satellites and was an invention of NASA. Space isn’t the only place you can get inspired, a lot of businesses are now using nature-inspired thinking and have been supported by consultants like Biomimicry UK.
Biomimicry UK believe it’s important for businesses to take a step back from their industries and look to nature for inspiration. The natural world has a lot to offer – it has developed strategies to solve complex problems over a billion years of evolution, including self-healing capabilities, lightweight materials, and much more. There are a lot of benefits for those that turn to nature for inspiration. As traditional resources decrease, it’s important to think about sustainable product design and alternative materials around us. The natural world is dominated by lighter elements, uses structure and shape to solve problems, and manufactures at ambient temperatures. This could lead to decreases in waste and costs in many sectors.
Everything from ant colonies and plant growth are just a few ways that Richard James MacCowan from Biomimicry UK is helping businesses to be innovative. For example, they’ve looked at the process of changing the waste stream and how, in nature, waste is a resource. This has been used to develop ideas for the tyre industry and a distillery in Scotland. Often money is lost on the amount of waste that is produced when it could be used as a resource to develop and improve your business.
Don’t worry if you haven’t got a green thumb, or know a lot about nature. There are experts, such as Biomimicry UK, available to give you a helping hand and you could get funding for innovation. If you’re a manufacturer, the Manufacturing Growth Programme, offers a 35% grant towards the cost of hiring your consultant. Not only will this cover innovation-related projects, it could also help with marketing, business planning, financial audits…the list goes on. Whilst the programme SparkFund provides a 40 to 50% revenue grant, specifically for innovation and research and development.
If you would like to use nature to be innovative and improve your business, get in touch with us at How’s Business via support@howsbusiness.org. We’re the central point of contact for businesses in York, North Yorkshire and East Riding and will help you to get the support that is best suited to your business's needs.
