The aim of a business, right from company registration through to seeing your first return on investment, is to grow. Innovate, develop and expand in a noticeable fashion. There is considerable competition in the world and to achieve this expansion you must stand out from the crowd. In the first stages of your company, when you are just starting out, this can be an uphill struggle; although it needn’t be.

Where you may lack budget or exposure in the industry you can make up for in other ways. The key way to do this is through the power of creativity. You don’t have to be the biggest fish in the pond to develop a flare. Harnessing the collective creative power of your team from start-up can be a great way to make you stand out from the crowd.

It only takes one brilliant idea to help your business stand out from the crowd. So, you want to create an atmosphere where this creation can be nurtured in the best way possible. But, what is the best way to do this in the modern work environment?

Here are 3 ways to nurture creativity in the workplace:

1. Don’t Think Outside the Box, Expand It

The best ideas are not necessarily new ones. Is Virgin a successful company because it invented the train? No, it is successful because it improved upon the existing base of a train and made it an experience that people sought after above over train companies.

The point is, you don’t have to invent the wheel in order to benefit from it. Obviously, you cannot replicate an idea entirely but creatively developing it is how humanity has reached the point it has today. A new way of looking at things is how the world develops. So, developing your company, in the same way, is the best course of action to take.

“My ambition comes from my passion: finding what I love and then expanding on that.” – Miranda Kerr

2. Environmental Factors

Let’s face it, being creative in a white box would be a tall order for almost everyone. However, you also can’t have an office that is an explosion of an artist’s palette (unless you are someone like Google, of course).

Stifling your employee’s creativity with a boring environment is a sure way to ensure that the ideas in your company do not develop. Promote thought and interaction by investing in an interesting piece of art, partaking in a fun table tennis game in the break room or even just some having some music playing in the background. It makes for a livelier work environment.

Work is work, so it can’t be all fun and games in the pursuit of creativity (although you shouldn’t intend to bore your employees either). Yet, there are certain things that will help to get those creative juices flowing and keep your businesses productivity high!

3. Budget Isn’t Everything

As a start-up company, you may not have an abundance of money to throw into all of the things that a successful, bustling business needs. Marketing, for example, can be key to the success of your new company. But, this can be an expensive process for your business during these first baby steps.

In this case, you may find creativity will stretch a smaller budget a considerable amount. A lot of people equate marketing with spending a lot of money on flashing neon signs and proclaiming how good your business is to the world. Sometimes this is more of a hindrance than a help.

New opportunities for less expensive advertising is around every corner. Imagine being the first person to realise Facebook was a great platform to advertise from, now it is an industry standard. All of these marketing strategies began as a creative idea, a company that thought out of the box in one instance and created a marketing platform that has been extremely successful.

There are a number of roads you can navigate from the steam of a smaller budget. The power of social media should never be ignored, it’s mostly free and you can reach a surprising number of people with the right (high quality) content. In the same way, connecting with local businesses around you can be a free way to create exposure for your business in a local community.

“Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.” – Nelson Mandela

Similarly, reaching out to local publications and the like can also be a great way to gain exposure at a local level. None of which requires a huge budget; just a friendly face and a will to get creative with your methods.

Overall, staying creative is an important aspect of the workplace. It keeps your employees enthused, allows your company to grow in new and interesting ways that will ultimately benefit your business as a whole. Creativity is different for everyone, but if you aim to nurture it then you will often be pleasantly surprised by the benefits it can bring.

How do you help promote creativity in the workplace? Please leave your thoughts below!