Ezekiel Solesi is the CEO of LIMBsimple Com ltd. LIMBsimple means life, investing, money and business made simple.
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We now live in a world that’s changing faster than ever. It used to take centuries to disrupt an industry but since the 2000s and the beginning of the Information Age, we’ve seen things move at an unprecedented pace. Industries are being reshaped overnight.
It’s always been a fact that every industry has a life cycle, but today, the reality is upon us. And sometimes it comes faster than we expect it.
So here’s the truth: Your industry could die, and sooner than you think. Die could even be literal, in which case the entire industry would be rendered useless or obsolete. Or it could be a figurative death where the industry undergoes a radical shift in business models due to technological advances. Whichever way it happens, we’ve got to get ready for it.
So here are four things you can do to prepare for the inevitable.
1. Understand who’s coming for you and don’t try to beat them; join them.
In the early 1900s, John D. Rockefeller launched smear campaigns against electricity because it threatened his business. He even refused to install electricity in his home for years. But even the great Rockefeller couldn’t stop electricity, so he went back to his drawing board and found complimentary uses for his product. The industry coming for you could kill you if you fight it. That’s why you see Microsoft moving to cloud and gaming, IBM moving away from PC to cloud and so on. Don’t fight, align.
2. Be profitable today so you can buy a new future.
Brian Tracy said at an event I attended, “profits are the cost of the future”—the more profits, the more future your company can afford. Be profitable so if need be, you can buy your way into a new future. Sometimes staying afloat might mean you have to buy a company that plays in the space that’s coming for you. So squeeze out as much profit as you can now; it’ll come in handy for ensuring your self-preservation.
3. Build a learning organization.
A learning organization is a flexible organization. Once your entire organization consistently updates its learning, chances are that you’ll be somewhere above the curve in identifying and perhaps joining the next big move or evolution of your industry earlier than most. A learning organization is easy to retool in the right direction as you fight to stay in business.
4. Pay attention to trends.
The population always tells us a story about what’s coming. For example, Africa has the youngest population and will for decades to come. If your business is in Africa, then you’ve got to look at that trend and see what it’s telling you. Here, brands like Tecno and Infinix have built affordable technology brands that have enabled more people to come online in the last decade, and they have experienced huge success. To survive, you have to be going where the population is going and not just being where they’ve already left.
Where’s Blockbuster, Kodak or the horse and carriage? Gone! Petrol engine cars, personal computers, banking as we know it, fiat money and even mobile phones might follow soon.
All industries die. Just don’t die with them.
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