Who survives? Who innovates.

Innovation as a chance for success. Innovation as sustainable development. Innovation as a necessity and a way of life. In recent years, in a dramatically fast-changing market, we have seen many examples of companies that have "profited" from the crisis by offering innovative products and services that are changing the market and our way of life.

On the topic of innovation in business, we talk to Mariyan Marinov, Director of Business Development at Sofia Tech Park - a kind of incubator of innovations on the Bulgarian market.

What are the important aspects of success in crisis conditions?

History remembers enough examples of global crises and how companies got through them, how they survived, and how they continued.

What is required to survive a crisis? My experience shows several key components:

Sufficient available and unrestricted corporate capital ("white money for rainy days"), which, however, not too many organizations can boast. On the contrary, relatively few do. This component is no guarantee of sustainable success, as new conditions emerge after the crisis with other 'surviving' companies, dynamics accelerate and markets are not what they were before.

Activities and projects that you can part with to reduce operating costs as much as possible and thus reach the "exit" from the crisis state. This component can also do the job, but it also does not guarantee sustainability, but only preserves us for a certain, usually short, period of time.

Innovative capacity is what I call the ability of organisations to adapt, change quickly and remain relevant in the market in which they operate. These companies are most often able to derive sufficient benefits from the crisis situation, which then also translate into a competitive advantage as market and economic circumstances normalise. In addition, innovation within an organisation is a process that creates new products, new concepts and new solutions that have the potential to become cornerstones of the company's operations and ensure long-term and sustainable success. Unfortunately, companies that focus on the latter component are not numerous enough, as the majority consider these activities, especially in a crisis situation, to be redundant and they are the first to drop out of their business processes.

What is needed in such situations to develop innovation skills and thus improve the innovative capacity of our company?

First of all, we need to transform our anxiety that our company is at risk into energy and enthusiasm for seeking new solutions, concepts and products, or adapting our activities to new conditions. This could happen in the following steps:

A review of the organization's mission and vision. Why do we exist, how do we operate, what do we offer our customers and what in our products or services gives them the most value.

Can what we offer to our customers continue to provide value in changed circumstances and is it imperative that it change shape? If it is imperative - what are the prospective options for these changes? Do we have options?

Having had conversations with some of our key customers - how do they perceive our decision to adapt, improve or even change the product from which they derive benefit. If they perceive it well and with anticipation, then that's it - you have (retain) customers to be useful to.

Do we have the operational capacity to implement these changes and how quickly can we implement them? If not - what resources would it cost us to pick up the pace and implement/improve our operational processes to implement the change in our products and services?

Ultimately, the goal of all the preceding steps is to get a positive "yes" answer, which is why we should proceed to action.

We recently found out that ClubHouse is among the top 10 most innovative projects of international technology parks. What plans do you have for its development in the future?

Yes, that's true. We are already developing it. We are currently putting the finishing touches to a hardware upgrade because, after all, the project has moved into more creative digital areas and offering variety is important for our clients. ClubHouse was created to develop Sofia Tech Park's activities in the direction of realizing the company's mission and in this sense - ClubHouse mainly works on promoting innovative Bulgarian projects, people and companies - those who are with us in the Incubator and those who have not yet become part of our community. ClubHouse is not just a digital studio. It is a community of innovators. We have founded 14 interest clubs, including BioTech Club, Drone Club, Artificial Intelligence Club, Space Club, and we are currently negotiating 3 new ones.

As someone who works actively in the field of innovation, at the heart of it in Sofia Tech Park, tell our readers - why is "innovation" a word mentioned so often by all of us?

Maybe because it still sounds exotic to us. But it's not enough. I am actively working towards making the meaning of innovation not exotic, but normal and even mandatory. This ensures predictability, sustainability and continued success for each individual business unit and for the whole economy. Our innovative capacity determines our sustainable existence and development - as individuals, as business units, as economies, as civilisation.