Is Your Business Ripe for Disruption?

Recently, I completed my first Leadership Academy. In our very first session, our speaker posed the following question: Is your business ripe for disruption?

What does that mean? It's simple - either you are disrupting your business, or someone else is.

Emerging Technology + New Business Model = DISRUPTION

It's too easy to get lost in complacency. We are all guilty of it. Consider this: In early 2000, Netflix founders offered to sell the company to Blockbuster for $50 million. They suggested that Blockbuster purchase Netflix, and then they would develop and run Blockbuster.com as their online video rental arm. Blockbuster execs listened carefully, and then asked, "How much would Blockbuster need to pay for Netflix?" When they heard the response—$50 million—they declined.

Little by little, the world changed, and Netflix stayed on its feet and grew. In 2002, two years after that meeting, Netflix went public. Despite their growth, Blockbuster was still a hundred times larger than Netflix was ($5 billion versus $50 million). Moreover, Blockbuster was owned by Viacom, which at that time was the most valuable media company in the world. Yet, by 2010, Blockbuster had declared bankruptcy. By 2019, only a single Blockbuster video store remained, in Bend, Oregon.

Blockbuster had been unable to adapt from DVD rental to streaming.

Netflix was often asked, "How did this happen? Why could Netflix repeatedly adapt but Blockbuster could not?" Blockbuster held all the aces. They had the brand, the power, the resources, and the vision.

Netflix had one thing that Blockbuster did not: a culture that valued people over process, emphasized innovation over efficiency, and had very few controls.

What if someone told you 20 years ago that there was a car that could drive itself? Would you have believed it? Or would you have laughed?

Consider this: Tesla has become one of the biggest game-changers in the automotive industry in the past years. The company was founded 17 years ago, but it has since revolutionized the car industry. Autopilot and electric cars are just two of the many trends set by Tesla. The other two are the software and the design.

The company hasn't only changed the auto industry in ways people only thought of though, instead it influenced the kind of cars its competitors must make to keep up! This year, Tesla became the most valuable auto company in market value -this was achieved mostly because of the auto revolution we have been witnesses of in the past years. The value of the company is over $300 billion today.

What will the future bring? Elon Musk already promised futuristic updates to newer models of Tesla, and they sound really incredible. The new technology used by the automaker will see the car "fly" from 0 to 60 mph in just one second. Flying cars! If that isn't revolutionary enough, I don't know what is.

So, let me ask you again - are YOU disrupting your business? Or is someone else?

Signs that your industry is ripe for disruption

· Market Complacency

· Customer Frustration

· Tension Points

What industries have been disrupted lately? Here are the top "disruptions" we have seen in the last few years:

· Entertainment

· Venture Capital

· Telecom

· Hospitality

· Retail

· And Transportation!

Key Takeaways:

· How are you building a moat? Make sure you are building a brand or product that no one can touch!

· Are you investing in Brand Building? Remember - your brand is simply this - what do people think of when they think of you?

· Is your staff UPSKILLED? Make sure you are keeping up with industry trends - who is disrupting YOUR market?