In conversation with Design for Growth's design coaches
SMEs are crucial to the UK economy. Often they are at the forefront of innovation. Three coaches from Design for Growth (the programme we designed and run with Innovate UK EDGE, as part of UKRI) talk to us about their work helping UK-based SMEs to grow.
Meet our coaches:
Abi Herd has a background in design, engineering and product design and enjoys helping businesses understand the roles between design, manufacturing and innovation.
Robin Green has been coaching businesses for over 20 years with a particular focus on understanding tech including data, machine learning, blockchain and cyber security.
Al Kennedy is a trained designer and leadership coach and sustainable innovation expert, with an interest in business and design understanding each other.
Thinking about the SMEs you work with, what are the biggest challenges they face?
RG: “To take an idea from the back-of-an-envelope conception point to put it in front of customers is incredibly hard. SMEs know their area, but not really how to innovate or that they need design infrastructure. We have to help them understand what needs to be done in the short, medium and long term. The support from INUK and Design for Growth provides this structure and fresh thinking.”
AH: “The programme provides an opportunity to unpack complex decisions. For the businesses I work with it’s usually about understanding their market and how to sell their product, plus funding, material choices and manufacturing volumes. Most businesses are reluctant to go and speak to their customers, but usually that’s what they need most.”
How have things changed for SMEs over the past few years?
AK: “I’d say the assumption that technology will solve the problem has become dominant and pervasive. It’s too easy to reach for tech as a solution, when the problem to be solved and the real value proposition hasn’t been worked out.
“I think the biggest challenge, really, is that we are all sold this romantic idea of entrepreneurship, that anyone can start a business. I think it’s slightly irresponsible to be honest. Our role as coaches is to help founders understand that a great idea alone doesn’t make a business. We then support them through the design process and help them to explore all options.”
RG: “I wholeheartedly agree with this. The other big change is that it’s now harder than ever for someone to take an idea, build it and take it to market. The landscape has changed and consumers have changed, particularly post-pandemic. There was a time when everyone could be a startup founder and dream big and probably do OK. Now the reality has hit home because it’s harder to raise funds quickly, gain customer insight and it’s hard to know where to get the support you need.”
AK: “Just to add to that, we have to mention the need for community, ethics and a much more social, environmental and systemic awareness. When talking about innovation, ethics really need to be dialled up. How can we design a more responsible innovation ecosystem? One that isn’t dominated by Silicon Valley logic and explores a much more regenerative approach. We have to solve real world problems.”
Where has design helped a business you’re coaching?
RG: “I worked with a company who provided robotics to the medical industry. The founder really wanted the business to grow sustainably. He took the time to understand and explore what design really means for his business. He wanted to get educated about design and use it across the whole business. It was really nice to see how much, from their perspective, design helped beyond just the product or service.”
AH: “I think the value has been predominantly in helping SMEs I work with map out all the decisions they’ve got to make. Being visual about it, helping them to think logically about what they need. They can be more objective when it’s mapped out. For example one of my clients wanted to go to market via Kickstarter, but our work helped them to see the customer journey and they had the realisation that B2B would be a stronger route.”
AK: “Similar to Abi, helping them see the customer’s perspective is always the biggest thing. Design is all about centring around the customer so that there is consistency. Often a value proposition can do that, turning their perspectives around to the customer’s perspective. Time and time again, knowing their customers opens things up for them in terms of how they communicate, how they present a product or service, how they market it, and even the commercial model all stems from that.”
Finally, what’s your best bit of advice for SME founders?
AK: “Be more you. We don’t need replicants. We need original ideas. We need founders to be confident in what they bring. So be more you, because everyone else is taken.”
RG: “As coaches we talk about innovation and design thinking as things that help, and they do, but actually, on the ground, it’s very, very difficult. It’s never the first idea that works. But if you can have one idea, you can have two, you can have ten, then a hundred. The general consensus is it’s one in a hundred ideas that has something.”
AH: “You can’t force an idea through to become a business because it’ll break. But failure doesn’t mean you’re out of the game. It means you’ve got to adapt, learn and change. As people we are told we can’t get it wrong, but messing up, failing, learning, you have to do that in your own business. Innovation can be immensely frustrating. You have to be open to the possibility of failure if you want to innovate.”
