The next few years are going to be much more challenging than the past 50 years in business. The good news is that you have an excellent opportunity to enjoy higher profits, happier customers and more productive employees as you go forward with the latest fast-changing technologies.
Over the last five years, Venture Capital has shifted its investment focus from the consumer market to solving enterprise problems and improving the business world. New companies and technology have been quickly rolling out and changing every industry. If you're an industry leader and have been in business for the last five to 25 years, you should be very scared.
Industries Disrupted from Technology Change
Industry by industry is being disrupted and leading companies are losing business or going out of business as a result of ignoring or delaying the latest technology changes. Just to name a few examples:
Car Services (Taxis, Limos and Rentals) - by Uber-like companies
Seminars, Demos & Meetings (Face-to-Face) - by Webinars (GoToMeeting, WebEx)
Hospitality (Hotels, Motels and Bed and Breakfasts) - by AirBnB
Cable TV (Comcast, AT&T, Time Warner) - by Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube
Office Phone Equipment - by Cloud-based Phone Systems (over internet - VOIP)
Travel Agencies - by Priceline, Expedia, TripAdvisor and Google
Old Airlines - by Virgin America, JetBlue and even Southwest
Classified Ads (Newspapers) - by Craigslist and eBay
Printing (Direct Mail and Collateral) - by email read on iPads and Smartphones
Photography (Kodak, Nikon and Cannon) - by iPhone & Android Smartphone cameras
Music - by Apple Music/iTunes, Spotify and Pandora
Retail - by Amazon
Publishing - Books, Magazines - by Amazon
Old Computer Companies (IBM, HP, Oracle and Dell) - by Amazon (AWS) & Google Cloud Service for Business and Apple Smartphones, Tablets and MacBooks
PC Disc Storage - by Box and Dropbox
Real Estate Listings - by Redfin and Zillow
Financial & Accounting (Quickbooks) - by Xero
Shipping (FedEx and UPS) - by Docusign and other eSignature Services
Office eMail - by Whats App, Texting and Stitch
Your customers have grown to expect a much higher level of service, features and quality from all businesses as a result of using the new consumer technology over the last five years. On top of that, millennium (born after 1980 - ages 18-35) customers have no loyalty if you do not provide what they want now. They just Google search for your competitors and they could be gone within minutes. As of 2015, Millenniums make up the largest generation in the USA workforce.
What Can You Do Now?
Here are two things you should do right now to address your technology improvements:
- Complete a quick business Tech Assessment of what technology you have now and what technology you need to grow your business (including: Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Support, Financials, Accounting, Human Resources, Payroll, Recruitment etc)
- Develop a strategy, plan and budget to invest in technology. Integrate technology change into your business goals and plans
You can assign one of your key executives to accomplish these projects or we can assist your management team in your assessment. Feel free to contact us if you would like more information or help with this transition.
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