In an increasingly digital world, products and services are constantly evolving. As technology intertwines with every nook and cranny of the real world, some businesses change and adapt till they may perhaps even become unrecognizable to traditionalists. Retail services are a great example of how digital disruption can change the landscape of businesses in a few quick decades. Giants such as Walmart and Sears are struggling to keep up in a space dominated by Amazon.

The real challenge is in identifying key pain points in a sector and coming up with innovative solutions that challenge or upend the status quo. The aim is to move fast and to have a product that fits the needs of the market as soon as possible. The early mover advantage has proven to be the kingmaker in many industries. Any delay in being the first out the door with a working solution can mean the difference between barely surviving and thriving. Being the first to market lets a company set an example for the quality of service. It becomes the barometer with which to judge all future entries in the space.

The key obstacle in the way of being the early mover is having a solid approach to solving the problem. Though companies are aware of the problem that needs to be solved, precious time is wasted in trying and failing at different approaches to solving the core problem. Customer feedback can prove to be very effective in speeding up this process. A company can benefit from using an agile approach to solving the problem even if it means accepting that sometimes the direction will need a course correction.

The EarlyBirds Marketplace is a Business to Business (B2B) marketplace for Innovators and Innovations (startups, scaleups, and mature companies) and Early Adopters (private and public sector organisations), and Subject matter Expert (SME) consultants to exchange value early on.

• Innovators are able to list their solution or service and post  offers starting from US$ 500 up to US$ 25,000 for each sale.
• There is a big data pool of over 1 Million global Innovations that can be searched, short-listed and curated to identify options for solving business challenges.
• Early Adopters can list their challenges and request and request potential solutions and services from Innovators.
• Subject Matter Experts can list their services and case studies of what they offer to Early Adopters and Innovators.
  
  

The EarlyBirds Marketplace is the most efficient way for each of the three pillars of the marketplace - Innovators, Early Adopters and SMEs - to connect, collaborate and share value in an open ecosystem. Early Adopters are able to search and buy innovations based on their industry business functions, business outcomes Early Adopters are also able to list Challenges in the marketplace to request potential solutions from Innovators. The marketplace provides escrow capability to reduce the risk for both sides as well as the capability to provide feedback.

The EarlyBirds offerings include self-service platform subscriptions and SME-assisted innovation program.There are 4 tiers for the self-service subscriptions - basic, entrepreneur, explorer, and enterprise.

• A Basic user can log in and list one Innovation, Challenge, or Service and search for listed Innovations, Challenges, and Services. This tier is free.
• Entrepreneur tier, subscribers can  search and list multiple Innovations, Challenges, or Services including a Global Innovators search of the 1.1 Million Innovations showing 10 results at a time. They can also sell, buy Innovations, and respond to any challenge.
• Explorer subscribers can access everything as per Entrepreneur subscription plus an unlimited search of the Global Innovation big data  as well as access to the Weekly Disruptor Webinars.
• Enterprise subscribers get access to a Subject Matter Expert and additional support services. Pricing is calculated based on the size of the enterprise and the services included.

The SME assisted program has two tiers - Explorer and Challenger.

• The Explorer program is designed to bring Innovation as a Service for the entire organization including subscriptions to the platform. They also bring dedicated Subject Matter Experts working closely with the organization to identify innovation opportunities so that appropriate innovators are introduced on a regular basis to solve business challenges. Explorers get access to weekly innovation boost webinars. They get a platform enterprise license​. They get a nominated SME for Enterprise. They focus on the target area of innovations, and they get monthly/quarterly Innovation days​.
• The Challenger program is designed to work on a single challenge at a time with five work packages that focus on a specific business challenge. The program is run by and EarlyBirds SME who collects requirements then searches the big data pool to identify and curate solution options to be evaluated in greater detail. After a suitable Innovation is identified the SME will draft roadmap of options for the next steps, for POC, trial or implementation.

EarlyBirds encourages all businesses that are looking for innovative solutions or needing assistance with their innovation programs  to register for its services at https://earlybirds.io/ or contact them to discuss your needs.