Top 10 Platforms for Managing Business Concepts

Platforms for Managing Business Concepts

Brainstorming can be difficult for most business owners, whether it’s a small or large business output. Ideas are what help a business to keep moving forward and to stay afloat in the business world. Besides it is that the company is not able to get ideas easily, in some cases, it may be that there are too many activities going on in the company and so there may be no time to brainstorm ideas for themselves.

What happens is that these days, some companies tend to seek outside ideas. These ideas can easily be generated from online platforms and they proof be good enough. This post will help you to look into the 10 best idea-generating platforms for your business. These platforms help to also reduce risks and improve the overall efficiency of your business.

1.  Brightidea (Best Overall)

Brightidea is idea management software used to gather, screen, assess, and create concepts for new products. It offers an idea box function where staff members can post fresh suggestions at any time.

Without having to set up additional PLM software, design research for new goods can be facilitated with Brightidea’s lab’s feature. This idea management platform also contains a capability for exploring ideas from outside sources, such as startups and colleges.

One of the best ways to generate new product ideas is brainstorming. Brightidea provides native whiteboard functionality that makes brainstorming more effective. Includes sticky notes that you can use to jot down new product ideas.

Team members can use the markers and pens on the Brightidea whiteboard to draw pictures to illustrate their ideas. Participants can also upload photos and share photos of prototypes and features they want to add with other participants.

It is possible to make use of the free account available on Brightidea. There are also different payment plans if you wish to scale up your business idea plans and concepts even much better.

2.  Ideawake (Makes Customizable Forms for Submission)

Ideawake is an innovation management tool for collecting, analyzing and implementing new product ideas. Can be used by team members to vote on suggestions and gain group approval.

Maintain consistency when evaluating new concepts with personalized scorecards provided by this innovation management software. To ensure that your ideas are evaluated by experienced reviewers, Ideawake also allows you to assign your ideas to subject matter experts for review.

If you want more structure in submitting your ideas, Ideawake is the ideal idea management software that offers configurable submission forms. Using Ideawake’s submission form, you can ensure that your submission contains the same information. This evaluates ideas more consistent.

Ideawake’s submission form fields can be used to filter and more easily categorize submissions. Other idea management programs such as Microsoft 365, Slack, Trello, Dropbox, and Zoom are integrated with Ideawake. When you request this product, you get a demo account to test it out. There are however different payment plans that the user can also choose from.

3.  Mural (Has Good Collaboration Features)

Mural is a collaborative tool-rich innovation management program that includes a digital whiteboard. To protect the privacy of new product development, it offers a private mode. Mural also offers a design research and analysis function that may be used to gather input on product prototypes and design modifications in response to that feedback. Product managers can select from a variety of brainstorming templates with Mural to assist them in gathering ideas.

Virtual reactions and animations on Mural can be used to recognize creative thinking and support additional staff suggestions. Additionally, it contains a function for meeting notes that allows users to record ideas and produce thorough action plans to advance good ideas to the following stage of the product development process.

Mural incorporates into Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Zoom, among other product development platforms. To gain access to other paid apps, you can link Mural to a paid Zapier account. There is a free account that has limited features. You can unlock the full features of this app for just $9 per month.

4.  Coda (It has a Good Workflow)

For team members to work together on product creation and ideation, Coda is a cloud-based document editor. It can be used to run meetings, make an agenda, and record minutes. It offers a workflow automation tool that allows you to automate straightforward chores and free up more time for important projects.

Coda provides document-sharing tools that enable team members to access the data they need to develop new products. Coda includes an Idea Triage option that helps you sort through your ideas and find the best ideas for brand-new products.

This platform allows you to categorize your ideas and distribute them to reviewers for further analysis. Additionally, it includes graphics that allow product managers to visually check the status of ideas and understand the percentage of proposed ideas that are worthwhile.

To create follow-ups on ideas that don’t have status updates, Coda includes an idea submission form that allows you to know the date that ideas were submitted and the name of the reviewer.

To gain access to premium apps that can assist you in creating new goods, you can link Coda to a paid Zapier account. There is a free account which has limited features. To access the full potential of the platform, you have to pay $12 per month. There are of course other plans that you can choose from for your business.

5.  Google Workspace

Google workspace is a popularly used software by many teams for brainstorming and collaborations. It is a set of tools for productivity and teamwork that enables team members to share ideas via text, spreadsheets, presentations, or in-person via video or chat.

Google Workspace is cloud-based, so team members can access documents and other important information from anywhere. So it’s a great option for remote or hybrid teams. For a more comprehensive approach to concept management, we recommend integrating with other (paid) software as it is free. Video conferencing has become commonplace as more companies embrace remote work.

Google Workspace is the best idea management software for video conferencing with team members. The amazing thing about Google Workspace is that it enables up to 90 people to join a video conference, so you can assemble as many team members as you need to get all the ideas you require. There is a drive where all files can easily be accessed and shared. Google workspace is a free platform to use for your team anywhere and anytime.

6.  Planbox

This idea management tool, Planbox helps you find insights, trends, and emerging technologies that you may apply to the creation of new goods. It assists you in finding the best joint ventures and investment possibilities and offers a corporate venturing tool. To help you comment and vote on ideas, this platform includes a continuous improvement platform. Creative ideas can come from anywhere.

Planbox is the ideal idea management tool for collecting ideas from external sources such as startups, academia, governments, and online communities. To swiftly find fresh product ideas, you may utilize Planbox to run co-creation events like hackathons, shark tanks, and idea contests. It contains integrated evaluation techniques that you may customize that will help you regularly evaluate new concepts.

Planbox can be connected to external software such as MS teams, G Suite, and Slack. It is possible to connect your account to a Zaiper account if you wish to get more premium applications that you can connect to. Planbox has a free demo account on it. You can use the premium account for as low as $6 if you wish to expand your cloud.

7.  Canny

You may gather, manage, and assess customer feedback on your products with the use of the idea management tool Canny. You can rate projects and feature requests using the product roadmap feature, which also features concept rating functionality, to help you prioritize tasks. Utilizing Canny to keep an eye on project progress will enable you to concentrate on product development stages that are facing bottlenecks.

This platform is the best idea management tool available for feature request systems. This feature request system provides a central location for feature requests from customers, partners, and employees. It also provides you with a way to get in touch with clients who made comparable requests for more talks. Using Canny, you can look up request submitters’ profiles to learn more about a new product’s target market.

It is possible to integrate other software into your Canny account making it flexible to use this platform. The pricing starts from $400 however this contains a team of 5 individuals with unlimited contributors. You can go to the pricing page for better information. There is a free forever plan, but of course, there has to be a limitation to using it.

8.  Idea Drop (has Gamification Features)

 Thanks to this platform, you can find, consider, and implement creative ideas for your product. It contains a pattern recognition feature to identify similar ideas and promote collaboration among staff who have the same thoughts.

There is a cloaking feature that makes idea submissions private by concealing the names of individuals who submitted them. You can even access a gamification element that can help you take advantage of how competitions encourage staff to submit innovative ideas.

You can include challenges and rewards in Idea Drop to motivate members to contribute original ideas. You may give team tasks deadlines, assign real-time innovation/idea ratings, and use a kanban-style workflow board to monitor progress. There’s a free demo account that you can use to test out this software. There are different pricing plans but you will need to contact the company to book a price.

9.  Monday.com

Monday.com is a project management tool with educational dashboards that enable you to monitor your deliveries and evaluate the status of your projects. To help you save time, it offers a workflow automation function that enables you to automate straightforward and repetitive operations. A product road map feature on Monday.com can assist you in visually planning and implementing new items.

This software is included in this list of idea management tools because it contains a mind mapping tool that you may use to connect various concepts to produce an original product. You can develop a central product idea and get suggestions about how to make the aforementioned product better by using mind mapping.

Its mind-mapping templates can also assist you in connecting various concepts and visualizing how they can work best together. Additionally, it provides you with a summary of the product’s attributes and advantages for users. other productivity apps like Dropbox, Google Calendar, and OneDrive are all integrated with Monday.com.

Monday.com has a free perpetual plan with limited features for up to 2 users, with paid plans starting at $8/seat/month.  There’s a 14-day free trial of paid plans for you to get a feel of the platform.

10. Craft.io (Strategy Planning)

Craft.io is a platform for product management that can be used to oversee the full process of developing new products. Teams working on product design and development can interact and share files, product updates, and other important information in this collaborative environment.

A prioritization function in this product and project management software allows users to prioritize new ideas according to urgency before beginning to implement them. A capacity planning function in Craft.io helps you make sure you have enough employees to deliver new items on the schedule.

With the help of Craft.io’s strategy roadmap function, you can keep track of product development visually and make sure that team members’ ideas are used in the features of your new product. This road mapping capability can also be used to see how your new product will impact goals and KPIs.

Its strategy roadmap gives team members a private forum for communication so they may follow up on ideas and requested features. GitLab, Dropbox, and Jira are just a few of the additional collaboration and idea management systems that Craft.io connects with. Craft.io offers a 14-day free trial and pricing that starts at $49/month/user.

How to Determine Which Platform is Best for Your Business Management Concepts

Usability

Before selecting any platform that you will use for your business growth, you must make sure that the platform has simple usability. It should be a platform that every of your staff can use without any stress. The usability will determine how efficient the platform will be for your business and your staff.

Cost

This is another factor to consider when choosing a platform for idea generation and business management. How much does it cost to use such a platform? Some platforms cost more than others so before you join any, make sure that you have done proper research on how much the platform charges either per month or per year. As a new business, it is best to go for a more affordable software or platform because your company is new, you can only go for one that is good but also affordable.

Interface

How is the interface of the software? This is also similar to usability because a platform with a bad UI will prove difficult to be able to use, whereas one with a good one will be easy to use. When choosing any platform, try to make sure that the interface looks neat and simple, so the navigation around the interface will be straightforward.

Conclusion

To take your business to the next level, you can try any of these platforms above. They all have good pricing and offer good services. Using these platforms will help you plan better and strategize on how to scale your business up. When it comes to project management, there are tools within them that help to make tasks easy for any kind of business. Don’t forget about the things to look out for also when you want to choose your business management platform.