Evolve or become obsolete
This blog will explore why small business need to stop fighting the inevitable change that is here now and is going to keep on changing.
Harsh blog title? Maybe but its actually the title of the book I am writing. I have been fortunate enough to work in some pretty cutting edge environments and as a result have learnt a great deal about the changes that are very much around us.
I believe that the promise of technology is now having a significant impact on the way we live, work and communicate.
The internet is at the heart of it all although it's hardly new. So why now? I believe the turning point in technology's evolution was the roll-out of 3G mobile data. It gave us a turning point where mobile data was usable. There were of course considerable other technology innovations around the same time but I believe 3G was significant.
All of a sudden we had a very usable and fast internet pretty much everywhere and we could access it from our smartphones which very rapidly evolved over a period of a few years and continue to keep innovating.
We now are living in an always on 24/7 connected society. For better or worse and it can be debated both ways. But the fact is it is here and is not going away.
The impact that this has had on business is significant, and on people as a whole even more so.
We can now work from anywhere, on any device that is internet connected and at any-time we wish. Again this blog is not debating if this is a good thing or not but the fact that it is here.
With rapid advancements in cloud computing and an avalanche of new ways to connect and share and collaborate, its no wonder business has changed forever.
For many small business owners I imagine this is all quite overwhelming, and where to turn if at all is not an easy choice. Everyone is telling us to keep up to date and that the way we do things has changed. It has but that does make it easy to evolve.
Many small business owners are sticking there head in the sand and to be honest I do understand why but its not the answer. The reason they are doing it is quite simple. Business for the last 20 years was pretty much the same. Tell enough people about your product or service and more people would buy. Sure technology has changed from the typewriter to a personal computer, and we sent less faxes and more emails but business was relatively simple.
You owned you niche in your area and you out advertised and sold than your competitors right?
Imagine if you have worked really hard building sales teams and getting results doing business this way and finally you get to the top and in 2015 when its your time all this change is very much upon us.
Business owners are being asked to understand so much technology and new ways of doing business which is something completely different to learn.
Unfortunately for those that is exactly what you will need to do. Learn how the new business world works and how people communicate, collaborate and buy in 2015 and beyond.
Social media is not a fad, blogging is not a waste of time and everything you do and don't do is public information should somebody wish to share their opinion.
Now is the time to start to understand your customers better than ever before and value them more than you did before. All this while keeping an eye on what's next.
You do not want to be the next Kodak or Blockbuster and countless others which are going bust left right and centre.
This was all avoidable if they just started to look at what was coming next, but then to be fair nobody saw what was coming.
Business is changing, technology is changing and so are we. Keeping up to day is not easy but an essential skill if you want to survive. Master it and you can thrive. Be the change in your industry before someone else does.
As entire industries vanish, others are being born right in front of us - its time to evolve or become obsolete.
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Author- Speaker - Consultant. Passionate about all things digital.