When you stop drinking soda, Coca-Cola sells you water.
Innovation gives life to businesses and innovation kills businesses.
Whether or not a business survives is determined by a lot of factors but the main ones usually are;
A willingness to adapt, speed of adoption of new technologies, a willingness to learn, flexibility and having a top level management team that’s flexible to change.
During the press conference to announce that Nokia was being acquired by Microsoft, the then Nokia CEO ended his speech in tears by saying “we didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost”.
The markets that Nokia had dominated for so long were taken over by various other manufacturers from Asia who were making cheaper handsets and had quickly adapted to the new Android revolution that was being pushed by Google a not so small giant.
Nokia also for a long time remained very obsessed with their in house Symbian OS which could not compete with the more open and flexible Apple iOS and Android.
One of the reasons why I was looking forward to going to university back in the day was so that I could finally get my hands on a Nokia Lumia, that Lumia line of devices was quite stylish and well designed. I ended up getting a Nokia X3 touch and type, which was unfortunately stolen Nairobi streets style and to this day I have not seen a sexier device than that one.
In his memoir, former Nokia CEO and board chairman, Jorma Ollila, stated that the Finnish phone manufacturer was unable to maintain its lead because the management team made several mistakes including, failure to identify changing consumer demands and trends in technology changes such as the growing popularity of the touch screen coupled with not taking seriously the intense competition from Asian phone makers.
There are many other companies that have faced extinction and reduced business as a result of innovation:
Kodak could have been the pioneer of the digital camera but the company’s leadership feared that going that direction would disrupt its lucrative film business, this was the beginning of their end.
Eveready Kenya batteries were once a necessity, a utility and a household name up until you could charge everything from your torch to your camera, you could even listen to radio on your feature phone. Change and innovation ate up their market share bit by bit.
Traditional newspaper outlets such as The Standard, Nation to mention a few, have been in the ICU for a while now, all because they refused to adapt to digital and the growing trend where people received news from their social media channels. They have not only seen a reduction in consumer numbers but also in revenues over the last couple of years.
On the other side of this phenomenon, there are certain companies that are constantly adapting to change and are quite flexible.
Seeing the growing trend in consumers beginning to reduce their sugar intake and switching to healthier alternatives, Coca-Cola introduced Coke Zero and ramped up their bottled water portfolio.
Realizing that Apple could potentially take over a large section of their market with its portable personal computer, IBM decided to shift its focus from consumer products to enterprise solutions and services. Instead of fighting a war they were clearly losing, they decided to go where Apple could not. Maybe that non-contractual letter of intent in 1991 between the two parties also helped a ton.
NVIDIA, a leading manufacturer of high-end graphics processing units bet big on AI before AI was a buzz word and so far it seems to be paying off quite well.
Whether you are a big player in your industry or just starting out, innovation can be your silver bullet or the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Proper timing, agility, flexibility and a willingness to learn and change is all you require to keep your venture going sustainably for a long time.
Listen to your customers, watch what they do, learn from them. You need not look too far.
Startup Spotlight: Zidallie
Zidallie offers safe transportation to and from school for students aged 4-17 years by matching busy parents with carefully selected drivers.
The rides can also cater for various other extracurricular activities that can require children to get from point A to point B safely.
More than that they also offer a school transport management system that can help streamline transportation services for different schools.
Founded by @Alilinelly you can learn more about Zidallie 👉🏽here.
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