Disruption do not Exist!

I know it sounds like a lie. But, it is the ugly truth! What your business call disruptions, new businesses call innovation. Starting a new business means, you’ve gone through the innovation process, which other companies in the same branch might call disruption. Will you call your own business disruptions? Of course not, you will call it your vision! For it to be a disruption, then you’ve not covered your base! The term disruptions mean something interrupting other things.

You are not alone, major movie renters have done the same, which led to digital streaming overtaking the market. As an individual who is in film renter business – your business is not just renting out VHS and DVD. It also include technologies, which means the company should notice changes, when television manufacturers begin to add USB plugins into television, and when internet was accessible on television. The movie-renters situation could have been neutralized, if the company realize possibilities of the market sooner.

The company should have gone electronic, and make it possible for movies being accessible through internet. But, they did nothing, until online renters overtook the market. Then, they started acting desperately! Publishing industry was once based on paper production, until it took a huge turn that makes it electronic. A publishing company is a knowledge bank that should easily notice anything “disruptive”. Some publishing companies started electronic-publish over ten years ago, and they capitalized on that opportunity, while others failed to see it.

Publishing industry begins to feel the sales going down, but could not fully understand it until it became too overwhelming for them. Those that failed to see such issues sooner would call it disruption. Existing competitions before entering a market is one thing, but new competitors after entry breaches success. If you have not already covered your base (company), it’s almost impossible to stand the pressure of such competitive market. Then, you only notice it when it actually becomes a problem.

People always say, the first company to enter a new market has dominance over that market. But, if I’d got there too late, then it’s so overwhelming that I cannot tackle it – that’s why I call it disruption! You must have your own Research and Development, even if you don’t belief your business needs it. Because, it does! Best and innovative companies allocate resources to Research and Development Department. They’d know the value of knowing better ways to produce their products, and even consider simplifying product’s usage.

They fully comprehend what it takes to maintain and sustain a market – and ready to experiment with new ideas that the R n D provided. It is not only about the product your products sell, but also about how people use them. For example, mobile industry has gone from simple mobile devices to smartphones and tablets. Another example says, it is a lot easier to read books on smartphones and tablets than to carry a physical books – but a book is a book!

The only time that disruption exists is when it is close to impossible to discover improvements sooner! How can we say it is disruption, when the only reason we call it that is because we lack the abilities to cover our base? It’s when you were sleeping in business, which is a huge mistake! A golden question – what can your business do better?