Many entrepreneurs find themselves in the same place after experiencing some success during their first launches of products or service offerings. Either they are prepared for expansion with new, fresh ideas or they are stuck and unable to come up with anything they believe will help them grow.

Sometimes the best ideas don't come from within the company, which is why it's beneficial to have outlets such as social media that allow entrepreneurs to bounce ideas off their followers and understand some of the trends that are shaping their industries. There are many places entrepreneurs can turn for innovation. Below are examples of some potential sources for news plans that may bring firms additional success.

Trusted staff
Employees who have been around for a while and understand their companies' processes can potentially devise new performance methods that could benefit the business. For example, finance professionals working with outdated programs can suggest upgrading to a budgeting planning tool that will help with cash flow forecasting. Similarly, marketers can brainstorm some strategies that were not brought up in strategic planning meetings. Asking staff for thoughts on improving the business and for suggestions on new products and/or services can often elicit good results.

Loyal customers
Firms that are in the business of making money should cater their products and/or services to what their customers want. What better way to decipher consumer demands than just asking them? There are several ways to go about gathering customer insights. Entrepreneurs can set up focus groups hosted at the business or in online forums, in which customers can talk about some products and/or services that could be useful in their daily lives. Surveying customers is another good way to learn some of the opinions of the client base. Interviewing shoppers when they are in the store or are looking for other products can provide useful information on some processes that entrepreneurs can improve within their firms.

Outsourcing to other firms
One term that is less common to entrepreneurs is crowdsourcing, which is the process of outsourcing tasks to a group of people or another business. Using this strategy is often a good idea because people outside of a business can evaluate everything and come up with some things that entrepreneurs and their staff may have never considered. Many companies have used crowdsourcing in the past to get over  a mental block when brainstorming new ideas for products. Some firms even hold contests that reward people or businesses when their ideas are chosen by the firm as one of the things it plans to pursue in the upcoming months.

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