No BS Grassroots Marketing Inconvenient Truth 2 - Don't Promote Your Yellow P...
Sometimes It's Easy to Misstep and Miss Market Opportunities - Happens to the Best
1. The other day, I was talking to a fellow entrepreneur and
we were discussing how so often technology changes
everything in midstream. Those companies which are agile
and able to adapt fare far better than those that can't.
Einstein told us; "Change Is the Only Constant," and in the
business world those same words of wisdom hold true.
Okay so, let's talk a little bit about disruptive technology,
and how the entrepreneurial innovator can use these
factors to his advantage, shall we?
2. My acquaintance told me of a business story in his
personal experience and industry, specifically how they
messed a revolutionary shift, after riding the wave of
technology up until that point. Unfortunately, they got to
a strong market position, became the status quo, and
were unable to defend when new market startups entered
upon the scene from all directions with new technologies.
Every industry goes through changes, about every decade.
It doesn't matter if it is the rubber manufacturing industry,
the automobile industry, or even the telecommunications
industry.
3. Some sectors of our economy change more rapidly than
others, and we see this in the computer industry in the
information age. When he explained how his industry
changed from underneath him, and how they failed to
recognize it, I said;
4. That's okay, I guess FedEx blew it with the Zap Mail project
thinking that Fax Machines would never be in every office,
or IBM stating that the total number of personal computer
buyers would be 5? But then again if we look at Kodak,
Land, and others on the camera side, they sure missed out
on the digital cameras. Disruptive Technology is a double-
edged sword, still I am for moving the ball down the field.
5. As a revolutionary in my own industry, the carwash
industry, I brought forth mobile car washing to the scene
in the very early 80s. I can tell you that the industry didn't
like it very much, but I was able to grow the company
quite fast, and substantially; eventually franchising it in 23
states, serving some 450 different cities. Did I ever miss
the next innovative change? Yes, unfortunately a few
times, but more often than not I was the one leading the
field, creating the change, and causing disruption in the
industry and dutifully taking advantage of that
opportunity once created.
6. The reality is it's very easy to get set in your ways, enjoy
market superiority and strength; and then miss the next
new thing. In fact, if you look at Google, Eric Schmidt fully
admitted that he missed the social networking craze. He
also admitted that companies like Facebook had taken
significant advertising dollars away from the overall online
advertising potential revenue. All that could have been
Google's, but they missed that market opportunity, now
they play catch up. What I'm trying to say is; it happens to
the best of them. Please consider all this and think on it.