eBusiness Weekly
Arthur Marara
This week we are going to touch on Choice #6, which is the choice to be innovative.
I hope you have not lost track of the choices of greatness. I am going to sound hard, or you may want to say I am being rude, but this is the only way that I can see real transformation taking place in your life.
Great people are great innovators. They are always looking for opportunities for change and improvement. They are always challenging themselves to be better, and by extension how they can make life better for others.
How innovative are you as a person? What is the new thing that you have developed for your business or your workplace if you are an employee?
Do you know that you do not need capital to think? The world recognises innovators. I often hear people say I can’t start a business because I do not have capital.
You do not need capital to start a business; you need an idea to start a business.
Facebook was started by someone who did not have capital.
Whatsapp was started by someone who did not have capital. In fact Whatsapp was started by a person who had been declined by Facebook and Twitter.
The people who have made it in business simply had innovative ideas they pursued confidently. Thomas Bata set out to put a shoe on every person on planet earth, and his idea gave birth to the family business, The Bata Shoe Company in Czechoslovakia.
Boyd Dunlop irritated by the noise from the steel wheels set out to come up with a solution that would change the world even today, pneumatic tyres. This became the birth of Dunlop Tyre Company which lived beyond him.
Truth about innovation
- Buckminster Fuller summarises the truth about change and innovation, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
This is so true, do not fight anyone! I have seen businesses fight other businesses; I have seen people fight other people!
What a waste!
True, it’s a waste of time, and a waste of life. Do not invest your energy in fighting competition. In fact competition is not actually your problem. The solution has been prescribed above; “To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” This is the truth that business needs to run with, and also as individuals, need to embrace.
It’s very possible to be rendered obsolete. If you are not developing yourself you will be made obsolete. If I may rub it in, you can be absolutely obsolete if you do not develop yourself. I want to illustrate this point using the R. Buckminster Fuller quote, and a few examples.
VCRs — growing up it used to be a sign of status to own a Video Cassette Recorder, not to mention a colour television. I remember my family owning one at a later stage in life.
Little before we enjoyed the “new” status, there was already a new model rendering a VCR obsolete and you know what the model was, “Digital Video Decoder” (DVD) which would play Digital Versatile Discs.
No one condemned the VCR; they simply developed a model which rendered a VCR obsolete.
PEGEUOT “emergency” taxis — I was still a “baby” when these were being used in Harare as taxis or public transport. You might have used these in the 1990s where people would be squashed inside, and be dropped at the various places.
A few years later, “kombis” came, and sooner the The future belongs to innovators disappeared.
Why?
Someone developed a model which made them obsolete. The kombis themselves have been threatened significantly by the “funcargo” and “honda fit” of the “mushikashika” fame. Though I do not use this mode of transport now, but my brief study of these people inspired a reality of creating a model which renders an existing one obsolete.
I grew up in Masvingo and ordinarily I would have some serious connections. I was told an interesting thing that kombis in Masvingo had actually been kicked out of business by the mushikashika guys who use Funcargos and Honda Fits. The true solution to mushikashika is not actually fighting them; but to develop a model which renders mushikashika obsolete.
The mobile phone — there was a time having a landline on your home was a sign of success. I recall having to sweat to secure a landline for our home in Masvingo, but this was to be history with the coming in of the mobile phone.
Now everyone can easily communicate with ease, and with almost everyone. This became a serious challenge to Telone which for years had enjoyed the monopoly.
Today Telone has come up with some very innovative products, and has pushed hard so that many homes are connected, and also have access to the internet.
I really enjoyed the billboards which Telone was putting in Harare digging into or responding to a competitor. That simply serves a point, if you are not careful someone will develop a model which will render you obsolete.
Econet has threatened several companies even in fields which have nothing to do with communication. It shook banks with the creation of ECOCASH. People can easily transact on their phones, transfer, receive money, and make payments and recently tollgates.
The tradition was one could only do these things when they go into a bank and fill in some forms. Telecel and Netone have similar solutions. The airtime vendor will soon be in trouble as people can easily get their airtime on their phones. ZOL transformed the field of internet, and connectivity, and has been so aggressive in connecting several homes.
Internet is not a luxury it’s a necessity. When I moved to the place I am staying, I discovered that they had actually installed their cables even in areas where there were no houses. What was the strategy?
They made their presence felt ahead of their competitors, and you have an idea what happens if someone wants an internet service provider in the area. Why don’t we master the importance of speed and precision in service delivery?
Insurance firms have now been threatened by mobile telecommunications companies which are now venturing into insurance building on their existing customer base.
Elon Musk the CEO of Tesla, and SpaceX is working on Starlink in order to provide the world with cheaper and faster internet. Their model is if successful will greatly affect those people who make money from providing internet only. Let’s wait and see.
Business at times is about driving other people out of business. Look at this statement and you will see how true it is. How many companies closed with the coming in of iTunes?
Several, CDs became obsolete in other parts of the world with people preferring digital downloads. This is the reason why we do not need worry about CD pirates in Zimbabwe; let’s develop models which render piracy obsolete. No one will ever buy from a CD pirate again.
Do you want to be an effective entrepreneur?
Develop effective models that render existing ones obsolete. People complain so much about DSTV and the costs. The solution is simple; develop a model that renders it obsolete (that is if you can do that).
Do not complain about a competitor who seems to have all the market, yet with an average product, develop a model which renders their model obsolete.
Entrepreneurs are constantly looking for solutions. Stop complaining start developing models. What are you going to innovate this week?
Join me on Star FM on Wednesdays (09:30am-10:00am) for some moments of inspiration on the Breeze with Tariro “Mai Judah”.
Arthur Marara is a corporate law attorney, keynote and peak performance speaker, business strategy facilitator commanding the stage with his delightful humour, raw energy, and wealth of life experiences. He is a financial wellness expert and is passionate about addressing the issues of wellness, sales, business leadership and strategy. Arthur is the author of the “Personal Development Toolkit”, “Keys to Effective Time Management” among other inspirational books. Follow him on social media, or WhatsApp him on +263718867255 or email [email protected]
