Unlock business success through effective brainstorming techniques

It’s been a tough year for many South African entrepreneurs. A 2025 study revealed that more than half (52.8%) of the country’s small businesses are contracting, trading with difficulty, or at risk of closure. While liquidations increased by 3.8% in the first nine months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, even one business shutting its doors is one too many.

If you find yourself in a difficult trading position or staring down the possibility of liquidation, it can feel as if you’re stuck and unable to shift direction. But recovery is possible. One of the most underrated tools to turn things around is collaborative, structured brainstorming – a process that helps uncover practical and innovative turnaround solutions to reposition your business.

At its core, brainstorming is a disciplined method for unlocking innovation by using the collective intelligence of a group to generate and test ideas. There are even experts in the market which assist with this process as we have with the Business Partners Limited technical assistance programme. Research consistently shows that collaboration drives innovation, but brainstorming goes one step further by challenging assumptions and creating the conditions that spark practical, workable solutions that individuals would not produce on their own.

This matters even more when a business is struggling. Business decline often results from a combination of issues rather than a single event: slipping sales, cash flow pressure, operational bottlenecks, weak customer communication or outdated processes. No single person sees the full picture, but different people see different parts of it. Brainstorming brings those fragments together and helps to identify the root causes.

To be effective, the session must be anchored in facts – tangible metrics like decreasing revenue, a shrinking client base or recurring operational issues. When everyone shares the same baseline, people contribute more meaningfully, and the discussion becomes solution- focused rather than speculative.

Another strength of collaborative brainstorming is the diversity of insight and plurality of thought it captures. In many small businesses, valuable knowledge sits with people who are rarely asked for input. A driver might understand customer frustrations before they reach management, while a receptionist may be aware of daily operational delays that never appear on formal reports. These small, practical observations often become the seeds of innovation when combined and explored properly.

This collaborative process also drives innovation by encouraging idea-building rather than idea-judging. In traditional discussions, people often hesitate to speak up for fear of being dismissed.

In a well-structured brainstorming session, the aim is to produce volume first, refine later. This unlocks more unconventional thinking, encourages experimentation and allows ideas to evolve rather than being shut down too early.

Brainstorming also breaks the emotional isolation that often accompanies hardship. Business owners under pressure tend to narrow their focus to the most “urgent” tasks at hand which can make it harder to think freely and creatively. A collaborative session interrupts that spiral by shifting the mindset from crisis to problem-solving. When issues are shared and explored openly, they feel smaller. When ideas come from multiple people, the responsibility feels shared. And when solutions are agreed collectively, commitment to executing them increases.

To turn these sessions into real outcomes, structure is essential. Set a clear objective. Define the problem tightly. Ask participants to bring data or observations. Capture every point visibly so nothing is lost. And at the end, narrow the ideas to a short list of priorities with clear owners and deadlines.

While brainstorming will not fix a business overnight, it can greatly accelerate the rate at which solutions emerge. And for South African entrepreneurs feeling stuck right now, it may be one of the most powerful and cost-effective steps towards getting back on the right path.

Jeremy Lang, Managing Director at Business Partners Limited

*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL.

BUSINESS REPORT