Even though the fictional character Forrest Gump didn’t always seem very smart, in the end he was smarter than all of us and achieved goals most only dream of. He knew that life is unpredictable, but that didn’t stop him. He knew that people who embrace change and roll with the punches are the ones who not only survive, but nail their goals and thrive in their passions.

 

Forrest knew, when you want something badly enough you run and you just don’t stop. You think outside the box and just do it. Remember that scene in the movie where he’s running and a pack of people are following him? He not only chewed up the miles, but inspired others to do the same.

 

Business, a major part of life for most, is also unpredictable, especially these days. Competition is at an all-time high. More Americans than ever are moving away from traditional bricks-and-mortar to ecommerce. In fact, the internet economy is blowing us away by rocketing to prominence, which means there’s no longer a choice — organizations have to transform their business models to scale with the web.

 

This new world of digital transformation demands an ongoing commitment to innovation. If you want to survive badly enough, you’ll think outside the box — and you’ll run and you just won’t stop. But you don’t have to do it alone.

 

The GCI/Proteus three-phase SmartInnovation™ process is a Forrest-like, single-minded process for identifying, designing and developing high-value web products that stretch far beyond a simple web site. Phase one is product discovery. Phase two is agile implementation. Then what? Does your website just sit there and look pretty? Not if it’s a GCI/Proteus effort. We help you keep on running and continue to innovate even after your web portal is live. We don’t stop pursuing what we want, either: continuous customer satisfaction (your satisfaction with us).

 

We call this third phase Continuous Growth. In business, that term is usually reserved for financial or operational activities. It’s a new thing to think of continuous growth in terms of your web presence. But that’s the GCI/Proteus secret – taking people, process and a back-end program, and focusing it ALL on what your customers continue to want, even as they and the world change. GCI/Proteus isn’t like most web development companies. After your web product is live, we don’t just give you a creative brief and take a chunk of change and then leave you hanging. We help you really be there for your customers.

 

The continuous growth phase is where you run and you just don’t stop — with us right beside you. It’s where we help you monitor, measure and drive the success of your new web product, whether that means staff training in anything from engineering to project management and product design, or assistance with dev-ops, analytics, hosting or customer advisory boards (CABs). Our services at this phase of web development fall into two categories: continuous innovation and managed services.

Bottom line? We’re with you all the way, taking every turn with you, running up and down every hill, rain or shine.

 

Strangely enough, even though GCI/Proteus is full of passionate, expert techies, the continuous growth phase isn’t always related to technology. Sometimes our support of your continuous growth means things like giving your staff more training, providing integrated support, or helping you talk with your customers.

 

Sometimes, startling realizations emerge from continuous growth. Take the GCI/Proteus client who identified a secondary web product, for example. The company’s owners realized they could generate additional revenue and improve their business environment by creating a spinoff: a double win.

 

So, that right there is another Forrest Gump lesson you can apply to your business: You never know what you’re gonna get. Just keep checking in with your customers, shifting your business model to meet their needs, adjusting online services to perfectly provide what they want. Keep being smart. Keep moving ahead one step at a time, and you may be pleasantly surprised where you arrive.