The Kipling and Kirby Ventures Disruptive Entrepreneur Series Episode #42 ‘Building Your Business’ Part 16 : Staying Disruptive

 

Staying disruptive

So we have got to the point where your business has been established, it has scaled and you probably have a repeatable set of processes and procedures. Things are now boring

I would not say a growing sustainable business is boring, however you will have probably noticed that over time, things have settled down into a pattern and have become more predictable

Growing company, predictable methods, stable staff. Boring, but sounds ok to me

It can be, and sustainable growth with tried and tested methods is a great thing, what you have to be aware of is the fact that companies can get caught out when they are in this position when younger, disruptive and more agile competitors come up with new ideas

So why should I stay disruptive?

Al: Being disruptive allows you to ‘think out of the box’ , be prepared and able to tackle market forces and changes in technology so that you are always ahead of the curve and able to innovate. It’s the companies that don’t do this that go out of business.

Are you saying, if I’m not disruptive, I will go out of business?

Not necessarily, some businesses can last a long time before they are disrupted. The key to disruption is to be aware of what is going on around you, use technology, laws, situations and opportunities to your advantage and this can sometimes help you see through the “fog” to new horizons. If you don’t see a disruptive idea happening in your business, maybe someone else will. A good business stays on it’s toes and looks out for these things, so yes, your business could be safe and secure and nobody will come along and upset your business model, but ask yourself is it worth the risk of doing nothing and you going out of business.

What can I do?

I would advise you to keep the heart of your company and understand why you started in the first place. A creative and innovative mindset is crucial for disruption. Look at news advanced in technology which can save you money or allow you to release different products or services, or the ultimate disruption, replace your product or service offering with something new.

Remember, this all sounds great, but make sure the ‘boring’ stuff still goes on and that you are continuing to run your company in a sustainable manner. If a huge game changer occurs which can threaten the business, use this as an opportunity to change 

Can you give me some specific examples of being disruptive?

The biggest examples, and the ones often quoted are AirBNB and Uber. They have turned their respective industries upside down by using disruptive methods. With AirBNB, they don’t own property, and yet are huge in the the property space, similar with Uber, they don’t own any cars, and are one of the fastest growing transportation logistics companies in the world. These companies found business models which change the status quo of how things work, remember when Apple released the first iPhone nearly ten years ago? This completely changed the perception of how a mobile phone should work. To be disruptive you need to upend the market and change the paradigm, not just because you want to be disruptive, but because the way, the product or the service you are offering will make a huge impact on the market. With the advent of things like IoT, AI, 3D printing, high speed internet and decreasing prices of technology, the opportunities and ways to disrupt are ever increasing and easier to do.

I am just not disruptive, I don’t think I can do it or come up with that world changing idea

What everyone sees is the end of the disruptive process, they don’t see the failures, the tests, the experiments, the hard work, the frustrations. It’s not easy to disrupt or come up with disruptive ideas, the best way is to try to think of new products, new ways, new services and experiment with these ways to test the market. Not every disruptive idea will work. If you are a start up, fail fast and move on.

Simon’s Final thought: “By seizing the opportunities that disruption presents and leveraging hard times into greater success through outworking/ out innovating / outthinking and outworking everyone around you, this just might be the richest time of your life so far.” - Robin S. Sharma  

Kipling and Kirby Ventures was formed in March 2016 by founders Al Tepper and Simon Barry, who together have been disrupting businesses for over 30 years. Join Al and Simon where they discuss business, startups, disruption, marketing and sales.

www.kiplingandkirbyventures.com @kiplingkirby

Al - [email protected]

Simon - [email protected]