by Rebecca Murtagh
Disruption is inevitable. Recession, inflation, mandates, natural disasters, illness, loss, technology, competitors, and every other kind disruption can result in failure. It doesn’t have to be this way. Disruption can create enormous opportunity and HUGE wins, again and again if you have the right framework in place.
WHY DO MOST BUSINESSES FAIL?
95% of small businesses fail in the first 5 years.
Less than 10% of public companies survived the past 3 recessions.
What did the successful minority do that the majority did not?
INNOVATION is OXYGEN to YOUR SUCCESS
One brilliant idea can create massive success. Not taking action when faced with disruption almost always leads to obsolescence or failure.
Brilliant ideas, in time, become obsolete if they do not evolve, as demonstrated in these two tales of disruption:
DISRUPTION STORY 1
If you are over 30 you likely remember Blockbuster video. The first store opened in 1985, offering VHS video rentals for home viewing. By the early 1990’s Blockbuster had become the largest video rental company in the world with 1,000 brick and mortar video rental stores serving over 50 million members. Technology changed. DVD replaced VHS. Blue ray replaced DVD. By the year 2000, late fees accounted for $800 million, or 16%, of Blockbuster’s revenues.
The internet spurred competition when in 1997 Netflix created an online store to facilitate mail order rentals delivered to customer’s homes. Customers could watch videos and return them on their timeline. Blockbuster was forced to alter its business model to compete. As Amazon.com and Redbox emerged as competitors, Blockbuster struggled, losing $200 million in late fees and investing another $200 million to launch Blockbuster Online.
In 2000 Blockbuster was presented with a golden opportunity to dominate the industry when Netflix offered to sell to Blockbuster for $50 million. Blockbuster had raised $465 million in its IPO the prior year yet declined the opportunity.
By 2005 Blockbuster lost 75% of its market value. It was hit hard by the recession of 2007-2009 and filed for bankruptcy in 2010 with only 1,700 stores. By 2014 all company-owned stores were closed. One store remains in Bend, Oregon.
Netflix would grow exponentially, offering online streaming in 2010. In 2012 Netflix was the largest streaming service in the world with 222 million subscribers worldwide, and $20 billion in revenue.
DISRUPTION STORY 2
Ford Motor Company incorporated in 1903. The company scale from selling would sell 10,000 Model T cars in 1908 to selling 1,905,955 vehicles and 174 billion in revenue in 2021.
The hand-crank windowless 22 horsepower Model T ford has evolved to vehicles like the Mustang with padded seats, tinted glass, navigation, Bluetooth, heated seats, up to 480 horsepower engines, and an electric model for 2023.
Ford didn’t just adapt to the latest technology. Ford became a disruptor by introducing the first moving assembly line, which gave them a distinct advantage and forever changed the automobile industry.
DISRUPT OR BE DISRUPTED
You may not be able to predict what form it will take. Disruption will come to your business, career and life. Change is inevitable. The decision to NOT take action is a decision to fail.
”When everything seems to be going against you remember that the airplane takes off against the wind,not with it.”
~ Henry Ford
Creating sustainable success comes down to one simple choice:
DISRUPT or BE DISRUPTED.
Having a proven framework in place can determine whether your organization will succeed, or fail, when faced with disruption.
To succeed, entrepreneurs, leaders and teams must learn how to:
- Turn disruption into opportunity
- Deploy a system for accelerating growth, again and again
- Implement a framework for innovation
- Create sustainable success
Want to know how to accelerate growth, promote innovation, and future-proof your business and career?
Visit HumanAI.Institute