Most disruptive technologies that can destroy your business are unseen, unknown, and unknowable. Not so all the time. And not so with the massive failure of the venerable Skymall magazine.
Skymall has been a staple in airline pockets for over 25 years. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Skymall retailing business earned $33.m in 2013. And a little over a year later, it went belly up. How is this possible?
According to its acting CEO, “With the increased use of electronic devices on planes, fewer people browsed the SkyMall in-flight catalog.” The short answer is the disruptive technologies. But aren’t disruptive technologies supposed to be unseen, unknown, and unknowable? Aren’t they supposed to sprout up out of nowhere and, well, disrupt?
There is nothing new about wifi, cellphones, and tablets. There is nothing secretive or unknown about their uses. And yet somehow, electronic devices totally upended Skymall.
How did Skymall not see this one coming? And more importantly, are there every day technologies out there today that could disrupt your business?
The first thing you should consider is a technology can disrupt your business even if it has been around a long time. All it takes is a governmental regulation change (which was the case with the FAA in allowing electronic device usage on planes), or some broad change in how your customers or competitors consider the use of existing technologies.
The major inflection points are in how you market and deliver your product or service. Are you keeping up with the changing expectations of your customers? Skymall wasn’t. It wanted to continue marketing to its customers in the same way it had for 25 years. That was convenient for Skymall. That was cost effective for Skymall.
Notice I cited what was convenient for Skymall. How much of your business is conducted because it is convenient for you and not your customers? How much do you know about the changing expectations of your customers? How much do you know about where today’s technologies are going and how they will affect you in the future?
Don’t make the mistake of only scanning the horizon for emerging technologies. Of course you need to do that, but the impact of emerging technologies won’t be apparent for years, if not decades. Take a hard look at the technologies of today with an eye toward how they will shape your customer’s behavior in the future.
President Ulysses S. Grant thought the telephone was “very remarkable” but wondered “who in the world would ever want to use one of them.” How many technologies are out there today that you wonder “who would ever want to use one of them?” Or perhaps a better question is “how would it be used to disrupt my business?” A good place to start is to noodle often on the websitewww.gizmag.com
The beauty of this kind of wondering is you may very well find an existing technology you can use to disrupt your competition.
Don’t let what happened to Skymall happen to you. It is time to stop wondering and take action.