Innovation for SMEs: from buzzword bingo to business tool
- Rachel Vigers
- May 26
- 6 min read
Updated: May 28
The pressure for SMEs to “deploy innovation” is real &, with it, can come the implication that businesses who aren't already innovating are also not sustainable. Harsh! But is it fair? Basically, yes - but, in practice, it's about understanding what innovation looks like for your specific business. Intrigued? Read on...
Innovation. It’s one of those words - on everyone’s lips, everywhere you look. Bandied about across boardrooms - shouted across social media.
But 'innovation' is a huge concept - one that smaller businesses can struggle to relate to.
What does innovation even mean within an SME context? How does a small business owner go about being more “innovative”, “embedding innovative practices”, “deploying innovation” or whatever other big business buzz phrase comes to mind? And is innovation really that important anyway?
We asked one of Rock’s professional delivery partners - Tom Parson, founder of innovation consultancy, Big Echo - about all things innovation. Here’s how we got on….
First off, what it means to innovate…
Innovation is a word commonly associated with tech but, actually, it’s applicable to every sector.
In Latin (which Rock's founder Rachel bizarrely has a degree in!), the verb “innovare” means to renew, make new or change (the adjective “novus” means new).
In a business context, being innovative is often seen as introducing new ideas, products, services or processes, typically with a remit to better meet market needs, enhance efficiency, improve profitability or drive growth.
That said, Rock loves Tom’s very relatable definition:
“Innovation is just about doing things better than yesterday”
What "Innovation" looks like for SMEs - particularly those in traditional industries
Innovation is often seen as big moonshots - world-changing ideas like 3D printing, self-driving cars or robotic surgery aids.
But, if your business is in a more traditional sector, such as accountancy or legal services, the concept of innovation still applies. In fact, it covers every single aspect of how your business operates, from self-managed teams to streamlined client onboarding.
Tom explains
“It could be about cutting paperwork time in half or combining four separate back-office systems into one useful customer-facing platform. It could be about redesigning workflows to remove friction from your team’s day - small practical steps that compound to make impactful change.”
This kind of practical, meaningful innovation is precisely what Big Echo intends to make more accessible.
The risk of not innovating
There’s a lot of overlap in the type of clients that Rock.Partners & Big Echo work with - ambitious SMEs who are either preparing to face change or already struggling to deal with the effects of it.
That change may be in one or more contexts
their markets (e.g. an increasingly competitive landscape, new laws or regulations or evolving trends)
their stakeholders (e.g. new investors, changing customer base, a switch to strategic partners)
their business (e.g. new structure, ownership or offer, changes in management, legal challenges)
Businesses that adopt more innovative practices are better able to prepare, react & adapt to such changes - so they will stay stronger, for longer than the ones that don’t. Conversely, to not innovate is to risk not being in business long term.
Tom describes Big Echo’s clients as:
“...ambitious SMEs who feel like they’re being left behind. They care about their clients, their people & quality outcomes. They want to empower themselves to continue to do great work in the face of constant & rapid change. They’re smart - they can see the writing on the wall… they perceive others to be innovating & using the latest tech & suspect they should be doing the same. It’s not that they’re afraid to try something new but more that they aren’t sure how to get started.”
Sound familiar? This is something that Rock sees all the time - business owners with impressive domain knowledge, driving ambition & pure grit who know they need to do something but aren't sure exactly what that something is; Leaders who are determined to do more, do better, do different & who are genuinely open to getting support but don't know who to get it from.
Enter Rock.Partners & Big Echo…
Making big concepts work for small businesses
As Rock’s founder, Rachel Vigers, says
“Strategy & Innovation are both concepts that are dominated (& complicated) by the world of big business. Consultancy ‘gurus’ tout a ton of proprietary models & frameworks that all promise to “transform” your business, brand, etc. In reality, a lot of it isn’t necessary. To suit SMEs, these big all-encompassing concepts need to be made more pragmatic, efficient & agile”
From a strategy perspective, Rock’s foundations-led approach does exactly this. As our own example of innovative thinking, we’ve devised an approach to strategic planning specifically to suit SMEs - one that is stripped back & simplified, flexible but robust.
First, we focus purely on what’s important - defining a business’ desired Direction & Impact as well its key sources of audience Connection & differentiated Value.
Once a client is clear on WHAT their strategic foundations are, the next question is HOW to build on them… at this point, Rock custom-creates a delivery plan to suit outcomes that are led by client needs, not pre-assumed agendas.
Innovation can be a huge part of this delivery process - finding ways for something to be done differently, better than it was before. This is where Rock & Big Echo buddy up.
Big Echo is built on a simple belief that tech innovation isn’t just for tech giants - it’s for everyone, & that includes SMEs.
The premise behind Big Echo
Tom Parson has spent 20+ years helping businesses use tech to turn challenges into opportunities. In his view, regardless of business sector or size, the best results always come from the same simple formula:
Understand the real problem
Start small & get feedback early
Manage the change process effectively
Step 2 is Big Echo’s sweetspot. Tom uses proven techniques from the tech startup world - like design sprints, co-creation, and rapid prototyping - to enable teams to spot opportunities, validate them fast, & de-risk innovation projects.
“When people see a working prototype of an idea they thought was out of reach, you can feel the shift in the room from “we can’t innovate” to “this changes everything". When that self-belief resonates through a team, a company, a sector - that’s the Big Echo. That’s what I live for”
Basically, every business can plan strategically. Every business can innovate.
You just need the right starting point & someone who can show you the way.
Innovation in practice…
One of Tom's clients was Manchester Digital, the trade body for the North West’s digital and tech industry.
Its business model is based on membership but there was a problem with renewals. Specifically, MD were spending too long following up with members reminding them to renew their membership, or chasing lapsed renewals.
Working with Tom, they listened to their members and the real challenges became clear:
Members wanted to renew but put it off as they were too busy
Renewals were manual (by phone or email) & took too long to process
Members wanted to sign up & have membership automatically renew
So, that’s exactly what Tom did.
The result?
🔥 3x more renewals
🔥 2x revenue from the website
🔥 Drastic reduction in admin time chasing renewals
No wheels reinvented. No dramatic statements. Just small, targeted steps implemented effectively. If this is what innovation looks like, then it's totally doable by even the smallest of businesses.
Just try it!
Innovation doesn’t have to be radical or scary - it just needs to be broken down, got into & stuck at.
Tom says
“You don’t need to be Uber or Netflix to innovate - you just need a willingness to look at what’s not working, and try something new. You’d be amazed at how much can be achieved by setting out some small steps & just getting started.”
More info:
Led by experienced Innovation Consultant & Business Mentor, Tom Parson, Big Echo offers SMEs fast, low-risk ways to define problems, test ideas & launch solutions.
That includes:
Tech innovation consultancy: refreshingly human strategic guidance on where to focus
Design sprints and workshops: align your team, generate ideas, and test solutions in days not months
Rapid prototyping: turn concepts into working digital platforms to launch quickly
Change management, coaching and support finding technical leadership: so the momentum lasts beyond Tom’s involvement
Led by experienced Business & Brand Consultant, Rachel Vigers, Rock.Partners offers SMEs robust, pragmatic strategic solutions so they can better start strong, stay strong, grow strong or exit strong.
That includes:
Foundations Strategy: getting clarity on Direction, Connection, Impact & Value
FAST Foundations strategy sprints & workshops
FIRM Foundations strategy programmes, including research & consultation
Alignment Programmes: mentoring, training & programme delivery support across commercial, creative & cultural workflows, partner outsourcing & management
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