Costovation: Innovation That Gives Your Customers Exactly What They Want--And Nothing More - Hardcover

Wow your customers . . . with “less.”

Cut costs—it’s a common corporate refrain. But if you constantly slash expenditures, what happens to innovation? How can you stay competitive and satisfy customers?

Costovation solves the dilemma of how to spend less and innovate more. The book’s revolutionary approach broadens the definition of innovation beyond products to the business model itself. With costovation, you let go of assumptions, take a fresh look at the market, and relentlessly focus on what customers really want.

Consider Planet Fitness—it grew to 7.3 million members by concentrating on casual exercisers. Those folks don’t care about frills. They want easy, low-cost access to good equipment. Although it’s inexpensive to run, Planet Fitness ranks highest in gym satisfaction. Gourmet grocer, Picard, sells only frozen food. With less perishable inventory, they compress costs while delighting a discerning but busy clientele.

Packed with examples and interactive exercises, the book explores cost innovation strategies that work for big and small companies alike. From open innovation and cost-sharing to simplifying products and turning waste into new offerings—readers learn how rivals are carving out niches, protecting positions, and dominating industries.

Innovation and cost-cutting are not opposites. Combined, they expose untapped opportunities to outsmart and underspend competitors.

• Planet Fitness topped seven million members by intentionally scraping the pools,towels, and personal trainers and providing lots of straightforward,easily-accessible workout equipment for a nominal fee 
• The Bridge International Academies network makes private education in emerging markets affordable by centralizing school operations and curriculum planning at its headquarters 
• LegalZoom runs a high-volume, low-cost business by providing basic legal documents and advice without the law offices
• Picard carved out a dedicated following in Europe by selling gourmet frozen food in bare-bones stores--at a fraction of the cost of dining out

• Share costs in the supply chain 
• Encourage external innovation
• Simplify products
• Make customization more efficient
• Minimize assets
• Turn waste into new offerings
• Use platforms for exponential growth
• Make your value chain more productive
• And more.