What is the key to business growth and success?

Innovation is an accelerator to business growth. Successful businesses have innovation in their DNA; it flows through every aspect of what they do. Instead of making current products smarter for users, look for products and services that will change society going forward.

The latest graduates and talent are seeking to work with companies that are innovative, agile and disruptive. They’re also looking for opportunities to be creative in their own work. Ultimately, innovation makes your business attractive to a new and exciting talent pool.

Dynamic businesses aren’t afraid to ask for help and make the best use of the support available to them. That includes accessing the Nexus community, collaborating with academic minds at the University of Leeds or seeking support from the wider Leeds innovation ecosystem, such as the Leeds Enterprise Partnership (LEP) growth team.

There’s also a distinct pride in our Leeds City Region from the high-growth businesses we’re working with. They recognise the power of community and value the regional backing they received during the early days. They build relationships with people who become champions for their business. This helps you expand your support networks, discover new opportunities and generate business leads.

We’ve been able to leverage our Nexus partnerships to build and strengthen relationships for our members across the region with bodies such as NHSX, LEP and Innovate UK. They’ve been able to use our ecosystem as a test-bed for new technology before rolling it out further, both nationally and globally.

One of the most important traits of successful early-stage businesses is the ability to pivot to a new business concept or methodology. The ones who have thrived the most have been able to diversify their offerings. If you’re making new opportunities, you’re also minimising the risk across your business.

New products and services often take a lot of motivation and adaptability to get them off the ground. It’s important to be resilient to knockbacks, recover quickly and adapt your offering. We’ve seen proof of this from some of our members in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve produced some truly innovative work, being agile and seeking new opportunities to reflect today’s challenges and society’s changing needs.

As we build on our first year successes, we continue to support our community across every stage of their growth. At a time of major change and challenge for business owners, one thing is certain: their innovation will be critical to society’s growth, as well as the recovery of the economy.

Make sure to check out our case studies for more on what Nexus has achieved for its partners.