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How entrepreneurs can make effective innovations in their products

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Benise Balaoing, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Yardstick Coffee co-owner Andre Chanco, Rags2Riches co-founder Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, and Guppy Beach Apparel owner Cara Paguio pose with Canva Philippines officials at the 2023 Negosyantrends Expo held at the Music Hall of SM Mall of Asia. Benise Balaoing, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/08/06/20230806-canva-expo.jpg"/><figcaption>Yardstick Coffee co-owner Andre Chanco, Rags2Riches co-founder Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, and Guppy Beach Apparel owner Cara Paguio pose with Canva Philippines officials at the 2023 Negosyantrends Expo held at the Music Hall of SM Mall of Asia. Benise Balaoing, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA – How can entrepreneurs effectively innovate their products to grow their businesses?For Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, founder of fashion and design brand Rags2Riches Inc., innovation will work if brands will listen well to their communities.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/02/16/21/ikea-philippines-rags2riches-sewing">IKEA PH taps Filipino artisans for custom-made textile products</a></li></ul>Started in 2007, Rags2Riches has grown by leaps and bounds, from making simple rugs to selling high-fashion bags and accessories woven by wives in Payatas and other marginalized communities in the Philippines.“For me, design is one of the most exciting parts of our business,” Ruiz said. “Kasi, ang saya eh. Ang saya na nag-e-evolve ang pangangailangan ng mga tao.”“So, for me, what is important in design, for me, number one, is not your design background, not even your technical skills, but your empathy. Empathy, dapat kilala mo yung market mo, alam mo yung gusto nila, kilala mo sila every time because people change, people evolve, and your market grows,” she explained.Ruiz said their brand regularly engages with their customers on social media to out what makes them tick.“If their socials are public, we look through their socials, and we say, oh, okay, this is their lifestyle, this is what they like, this is how they travel. So, maybe, dapat yung lifestyle nila, ganito dapat yung products.”<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/03/24/21/mano-a-mano-which-portable-brewer-will-give-you-the-better-coffee-aeropress-o-steepshot">Yardstick Coffee</a> co-owner Andre Chanco, meanwhile, said it is important that businesses ensure that their customers’ needs are being met.“Before COVID happened, a friend of mine opened a store. So, he runs a café in Auckland, and then he closed before COVID, and then on his last day, all his regulars, his advocates came by and then they kind of like said bye to the shop.”Chanco said his friend’s story made him rethink the way his brand speaks to its customers.“The amount of conversations we&#x27;ve had offline, online, qualitative surveys, quantitative surveys—I think we learned so much about our customers and we also learned so much about ourselves.”“And I think when you&#x27;re running a business, it&#x27;s important that you’re doing what you set out to do but at the same time making sure that your customers are heard and so that their needs are being met,” he said.<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/style/necessary-style/09/03/22/the-mens-section-at-artefino-is-all-about-bobo-style">Guppy</a> Beach Apparel owner Cara Paguio, meanwhile, said entrepreneurs should not hesitate to introduce new products and services.“Don’t be afraid to try something new, and fail fast. Test it, and fail fast…you rarely ever get perfect on the first try.”“Sometimes we’re bogged down by prerequisites,” Ruiz said. “Like, dapat may ganito muna akong cash, dapat tumangkad ako nang ganito, so imagine, may mga criteria ka na never mangyayari. So you will never start.”“So, just start something quickly, iterate,” she stressed.Ruiz also said innovations should solve people’s problems, no matter how trivial they may seem.“Because even if it’s a trivial problem, it’s a problem for someone. So you solve a problem for someone somewhere. Pwede ngang solve your own problem first eh. And maybe there are more people with problems like yours. And then you have created, you have discovered your part in the market,” she said.“Wag kang masyadong mag-alaala, na parang, dapat lahat ng tao love yung product ko, it doesn’t work that way. If everyone likes your product, okay lang yun eh, parang it’s not that important, what’s important is there’s a little group of people who absolutely loves your product.”Ruiz, Chanco, and Paguio were guests at the Canva Philippines 2023 Negosyantrends Expo, where micro, small, and medium enterprises were given the chance to meet brand and design experts to help them level up their businesses.Canva is a free online visual communications platform that helps users make designs for their presentations, workbooks, tutorials, brands and other marketing collaterals.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/03/27/23/canva-brings-magic-to-design-with-ai-powered-tools">Canva opens era of design ‘magic&#x27; with new AI-powered tools</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/27/23/canva-eyes-becoming-essential-for-msmes-educators-in-ph">Canva eyes becoming ‘essential’ for MSMEs, educators in PH</a></li></ul>

How can entrepreneurs effectively innovate their products to grow their businesses?

How entrepreneurs can make effective innovations in their products

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How entrepreneurs can make effective innovations in their products

Benise Balaoing,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 06, 2023 09:43 AM PHT

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Updated Aug 07, 2023 06:56 AM PHT

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