I’ve often heard the big Internet Marketing gurus saying, “Don’t invent, find something that works and improve on it”. Sounds like good advise I’d say. Not saying a small business shouldn’t innovate. We do on a daily basis whether we realize it or not but… I personally believe there is a time and place for innovation. Starting a company on innovation is tough, not un-doable but like trying to swim upstream in winter time when the river’s almost frozen. Ugh just the thought of that is unpleasant.
Anyway, I happened to be reading Money magazine about the myths of starting your own business and one of the things myths mentioned is the ‘innovation’ requirement. Then I turn to my next magazine, Business 2.0 and in the letters column this guy was complaining that Jack Ma (China’s Internet Maven) didn’t invent anything, merely copying tried and true models of Google, eBay and PayPal.
To me, I’m thinking “What does it matter?” The biggest thing is he put it into action. I’m still dreaming of creating the PayPal of my native country. Just because someone imitates a business model doesn’t mean they lack innovation. They had the sense and vision enough to bring the model to places where big companies like PayPal would rather not.
Besides, Google ’stole’ their search engine idea from the first most primitive engines online and made it better, eBay ’stole’ the idea from an age old practice dating back for centuries and made it more convenient and PayPal ’stole’ the idea from the banking industry but improving on it and making it more convenient. And if everyone of us looked hard at our business, it is a ’stolen’ idea in some way or form but that shouldn’t be the point. The point is if you make anything out of it.
I can attest to something personally though. I spent years trying to be an innovator and earned close to nothing. When I switched to being an improver of imitated models, that’s when things took off. If you haven’t already, you should try it 
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