Great business ideas are often very simple. But to make them work, you need a dash of luck, a helping of inventiveness, inspired leadership, and, very often, a desire to think in unconventional ways.

Clawing back a little ground from the market leader or improving efficiency by a few percentage points is often the limit of executive ambition. It can be reassuring to operate within the bounds of industry convention. But great business ideas respect no such barriers and come from many different sources, raising uncomfortable questions about the implicit assumptions of any strategy.

‘Strategy formulation needs to consider both a company’s traditional market, as well as all alternative markets,’ says John Riker of the Value Innovation Network. ‘It should be visual and intuitive as much as numeric and analytical.’

Abandoning the ritual of traditional strategy development requires leadership and courage, but given the unrelenting pressure of competition, the introduction of unconventional thinking is becoming an imperative for all companies seeking to create successful growth strategies.

Creating a whoosh

Company: Sonaptic
Innovator: David Montieth
Sector: Computer software/audio technology

When you are next playing a motor racing game on your computer, you might notice a ‘whoosh’ from behind as you are overtaken. Or you might jump when you hear a monster leap out from behind you in a castle game.

These sounds appear to be all around you, but are in fact coming from the speakers in your console using a technique developed by David Montieth and three colleagues at the EMI Research Laboratory in Hayes. Based on a medical understanding of how we hear, they developed a series of algorithms and filters to create the illusion of sound in three dimensions.

‘Because it is the artist, not recording technology, that sells records, our first commercial application was in computer games,’ says Montieth. He and his three colleagues were spun out into Sensora, a company that was sold to Creative Labs.

Frustrated by a lack of investment to explore the possibility of using their techniques in mobile phones, Montieth set up Sonaptic with £1 million in backing from Pen Tec Ventures. After overcoming the challenge of creating 3D sound on devices with speakers an inch apart, Sonaptic concentrated mainly on the Japanese market, which is the world’s heaviest downloader of music and games.‘ We have licensed our IP to DoCoMo and are now running on Fujitsu, Mitsubishi and NEC phones,’ he says.

Sonaptic is launching in Europe this month and Montieth has just changed his job title from managing director to CEO in preparation for an assault on the US. All being well, he is hoping to start making a profit at the beginning of next year.

On current projections, Montieth expects to break even at the beginning of next year.  


The trucker’s defence

Company: Protekdor
Innovator: Debbie Jones
Sector: Security

Tighter rules on protecting freight from terrorist attacks have had a nasty side effect. Drivers asleep in their cabs are becoming even more vulnerable to attack, says Debbie Jones at Protekdor, which specialises in cab security.

‘Without the driver, the load goes nowhere,’ she says. ‘Employers are missing a commercial trick by not ensuring their safety. The cab has become a vehicle’s Achilles heel.’

Attacks on HGV drivers have been on the increase across Europe with hotspots in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain. After her own husband was twice gassed on the way to Iraq, they set up a company to produce a steel device to protect doors and windows from break-ins.

They are now offering protection for light commercial vehicles in the UK. ‘They frequently carry valuable goods and documents, but are invariably left unattended at some point. This makes them an extremely attractive target for the opportunistic thief who, with even minimal skills, can breach standard door lock barrels in a matter of seconds.’


Up in the hills

Company: Hill Station
Sector:  Food and drink
Innovators: Charles and Gina Hill

If Britain has such a wonderful dairy industry with great creams and cheeses then why has it so tamely given up the market for premium ice creams to imports? It was a question that bugged Charles and Gina Hill, an American couple, who were working in this country in finance.  

When offered transfers to Singapore, they decided instead to produce their own version of how they felt British ice cream should taste. They moved out of London and set up a factory close to Wiltshire’s dairy herds.

Their intention was to break with the usual image of seafront or farmgate for British ice cream. ‘We wanted to produce flavours that evoke exotic trips and experiences, rather than just mixing everything up with sugar,’ says Charles. ‘We were told that no Briton would consider anything with less than 18 per cent sugar. We’ve gone for 12 per cent. With less sugar, you have more flavour.’

Branding themselves as Hill Station to evoke a sense of tropical adventure with a British twist, the couple launched with flavours such as nutmeg and cinnamon. They began with three delicatessens as customers, but seven years later they are stocked by Tesco, Waitrose and Somerfield with sales of £2 million. They have just launched their latest flavour: passionfruit and white chocolate.

After four rounds of finance among family and friends, Hill Station launched on AIM in October, raising a total of £1.9 million to invest in marketing and build a new factory. ‘So far we’ve spent about £75,000 a year on marketing,’ says Charles, ‘which is nothing if you want to build yourself into a consumer brand.’