What makes an e-commerce giant decide to open a retail store in the high rent district of Manhattan? What prompts tech giants to break up into smaller companies?
The answer is competition.
It is extremely hard to act like a speed boat when you are an ocean liner, so when we see ocean liners lowering the boats into the water, we tend to think the crew and passengers are about to abandon ship. But there may be another reason. It may be time to get out and have some fun in more shallow waters.
Amazon is opening kiosks and toying with the idea of a storefront to be able to increase sales of devices that require a hands-on experience, and at the same time, there is an added benefit. Having brick and mortar locations as shipping hubs may make sense.
On the other hand, HP and eBay are among those looking to peel back the onion and split their respective companies into multiple entities, helping them compete against the smaller, more nimble rivals.
Will these strategies work?
Most likely they will, not because they are good strategies, but because these companies are choosing to try them. They are venturing out into different waters, and if these ideas don't work, they will try something else.
There is a lesson here for all businesses. Don't get comfortable.
As business owners, we like to believe that we have it all figured out. We know why our customers buy from us and we do everything in our power to make sure we maintain the quality of that product or service so we can continue to please them.
But what if we have it wrong? What if the tastes are changing? What if we had never reached our full potential in the first place and we stopped experimenting, thinking we have the secret formula that is worth millions?
While we focus on one critical and valuable aspect of our business, we may be missing something that a new competitor will see as an obvious and marketable omission on our part.
Enter the speed boat.
If we think back to when we began, we might see ourselves as the speed boat captains, gathering up those customers who wanted to go ashore, leaving the big cruise liner behind.
Sure it is comfortable on that big boat, with stores and restaurants, pools, tennis courts, all sorts of amusements, even a theater, but what if you want something else, something different?
When we are smaller, we can pay more attention to each customer, adopt new technologies, react to changing tastes ad demands, be flexible. As we grow, we need to keep that ability to adjust and adapt as one of the tenants of our business or we will find ourselves on the downward side of the growth curve.
So, take a look at the products and services you offer today and look back to when you started. Are they very different or pretty much the same?
If you have been holding onto the secret formula and avoiding making changes, you may need to do a little experimenting, now before someone comes along and trumps you with a more modern version.
After all, you are probably looking closely at your competitors and wondering how you can modify their offerings to trump them, right?
If you want a breakthrough, the first thing you need to break through is your own resistance to change.
Now, let me end this. I have to go take a close look at how to be more agile myself.
