The future is now
In this blog i will explore the scary rate of innovation and how important it is to embrace change.
I went to a business exhibition in Kent today and it was no different to last year nor the year before that.
There were companies promoting products and services which in my opinion are redundant. There were others which just seemed so dated it felt like 10 years ago.
I understand this is their livelihood, this is what their companies do  and they also probably feel the pain of change and that is why they are at these events in the first place.
So what is the answer? What should a business do if it feels like it is becoming redundant?
It really depends on the industry and how bad things are? But the first thing to do is to really look at what is going on in your industry what are the leaders saying and doing differently? There will be someone.
Understanding that business is different now is the next big step. I know you might not want to hear it and may even disagree. 15 years ago a fortune 500 company would last on average 75 years. This was when people would have jobs for life. Today a fortune 500 company has an average life of around 15 years and that number is declining.
Why? Change is happening at a faster rate than at any other time in history. It also shows no signs of slowing. This is having a major effect on businesses of all sizes each and every day.
As a business owner you need to be thinking about change. How is innovation going to affect your customers and your business.
Some things wont change for a long time, for example, we are always going to want to go out places to eat. That is not going to change but how that event happens might do. Only a few years ago the following steps might have happened.
- You may have called a few friends and left voicemails if they had an answer phone.
- They may have picked up your call or message and got back to you.
- You may have looked in the yellow pages for a venue.
- You may have used a map if the location was somewhere new.
Its quite a different process today. And the way do these things in future may change as well.
It is about embracing and managing the change in the best way you can. The best place you can start looking at your own habits as a consumer.
Not all change is good nor is all change bad. Its how we adapt. Be aware of what is going on in your industry and also what is important to your customers, what change are they experiencing that you can help with.
One thing for sure is that the future is here today. We have cloud computing, marketing automation, electric cars and so much more. Its time to adapt and accept that the future has arrived today and will again tomorrow.
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Author- Speaker - Consultant. Passionate about all things digital.