• Fri. Nov 24th, 2023

Janeane's World: Published By James, Davis, and Associates

We train individuals and teams to work with confidence and competence. Call: 484 381 0532. Email: janeanedavis@janeanesworld.com.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel – Build a Better Mousetrap

www.janeanesworld.com don't reinvent the wheel build a better mousetrap

www.janeanesworld.com don't reinvent the wheel build a better mousetrap


It is thrilling to run your business knowing you do not have to re-invent the wheel, instead you can build a better mousetrap.
Being an entrepreneur is an exciting and noble calling. Entrepreneurship brings different things out of each person. One thing it brings out is a desire to be creative, inventive and imaginative. These are all good qualities for an entrepreneur to have. It is important to put boundaries on creativity, inventiveness and imagination so that time is not spent doing things that are not a good use of an entrepreneur’s resources.

I recently was in contact with a business associate who had a renewable energy company with a lot of promise and opportunity in a new and growing marketplace. The entrepreneurs had a reasonable amount of experience and education adequate to the task before them. However, this client was never able to succeed and was always putting out fires rather than enjoying the excitement of running a new business in a new industry. One of the main reasons for this was because this client always wanted to re-invent the wheel. Whenever one of the employees hired to do a job tried to explain to management what should be done and why, management rejected the idea out of hand. The management rejected the ideas by stating they were not new, but only improvements to existing ideas being done by competitors. Management would always acknowledge the ideas were good, that they were being used with success by the competitors. The only reason the ideas were rejected was because they were not new enough, not different enough. So, rather than moving forward with business as should have been done, my associate was paralyzed and did nothing. When it was time to draft contacts, they engaged the services of an attorney who wrote contracts that were in plain English and clearly spelled out the agreement of the parties. The agreements were rejected because they didn’t seem “complicated” enough. So, management would re-write them, they would get rejected and have to be redone. However management did not want to go back to the attorney hired, so weeks and weeks were wasted. Similar incidents happened with electricians, accountants, sales managers and human resources professionals. My associates did not want a better mousetrap, they wanted to re-invent the wheel.

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To put it another way, cars roll on round wheels. The wheels are round rather than oval, triangular or square for some very good reasons. It is a good idea to look at the car and try to find ways to make the wheels work better. That is a good use of time and resources. It is not a good use of resources to try to make car wheels triangles or squares. When looking at ideas to make your business operations better, make sure you are looking at real ideas, good ideas that will serve business purposes. Do not look to reinvent the wheel just for reinvention’s sake.

Instead, look at the idea of making a better mousetrap. Think about it. Most people do not want mice running around their homes and businesses because they spread filth, disease and are kind of gross. People dislike mice so much, they buy traps to catch them. As technology advances, people come up with better and better mousetraps. They become trickier, more complicated, more humane, easier to use and all other more interesting things. It literally seems as if someone is always trying to invent a better mousetrap. The world can use better mousetraps. The world cannot use more mousetraps that do everything except catch mice, but are just cute.

When running your business, if you want to do something new and original that is a good thing, an admirable thing. In fact, it may be a thing that helps you to garner much-needed market share. As you seek to do new things, keep in mind the idea that you do not have to reinvent the wheel. Often in business the best thing you can do is build a better mousetrap.

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In conclusion, it is thrilling to run your business knowing you do not have to re-invent the wheel, instead you can build a better mousetrap. So, the question for you this thrilling day is, what can you do better at your business?

31 thoughts on “Don’t Reinvent the Wheel – Build a Better Mousetrap”
  1. Great tips! My husband has his own electrical business and while he can’t really “reinvent” the way the work is done, he can do other things.

  2. Great tips! I love this post, my business partner and I talk about how we are just doing it better!

  3. Great tips! I used to think that I needed to come up with something completely different to sell as a craft but I agree with you. Making something unique doesn’t have to mean coming up with something never before seen.

  4. Great words of wisdom there. Instead of trying to do something new how about making what you have better. Thanks for sharing.

  5. In the blogging world, there is always something new popping up as far as technology and social media. Just keeping up to date and trying to master them is enough for me, I don’t need to reinvent the wheel! LOL!

  6. I have heard this SO much in my seven years of working online. Everyone wants to come out with something new, but really all you need to do is improve on something that already exists to be successful! I’ve been thinking about how I can make blogging easier for those wanting to their start. I’m going to take information I have and make it easy to digest — not try to come up with an entirely new way of doing things!

  7. “There’s nothing new under the sun”… true in many ways. I do agree, find ways to reinvent what you already know and have – make it better and fill a need that isn’t being met.

  8. I need to stop overcommitting. I work full time out of the home, while also keeping freelance clients on the side. I can’t do both to the best of my ability.

  9. This is great motivational advice. Being an entrepreneur is quite the accomplishment but it does take a lot of hard work. It pays off in the end though!

  10. I agree with you. You don’t need to re-invent the wheel – just add some fancy new rims to it. why do all the heavy lifting if it already been done – build and improve upon what is already out there!

  11. It can be super hard to grow a business. I have been trying to make my photography and Graphic Design business get off the ground for years now. These are some great tips, thank you!

  12. I don’t have a business of my own, but it’s an excellent point. My hubby has to fight that one constantly at work.

  13. Excellent advice. Too often we beat ourselves up trying to be different and standout in a very crowded marketplace. There are some areas where you need to put a new spin on something old; but for the most part you can use the blueprint of what has been done before as a model for your own business plans – while inserting your own authentic voice of course. Thanks for sharing!

  14. Thanks for this, I am always interested in growing my business and learning about what I am doing wrong!
    thanks,
    Mitch

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