The only way you can develop, adapt or expand your business strategy, or address the defects in it, is to wake up everyday energized to tap into opinions and insight that will benefit you now and in the future. In Expel the Elephants, this is covered in the principle: Have You Eaten Your Feedback for Breakfast?
Well, now there’s something else you need to have for breakfast – the competition.
Anupam Saxena from Ghadeer Trading shared this excellent article with me entitled: “Have Breakfast… or…Be Breakfast!”. The author, Dr. Y. L. R. Moorthi, a professor at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, poses the following questions:
- Who is sells the largest number of cameras in India?
- Who runs the biggest music business in India?
- In 2008, who was the toughest competitor to British Airways for international flights in India?
- What do we use today [to wake ourselves up in the morning]? Twenty years ago we used a mechanical alarm clock that we manually had to wind up every night before we went to bed.
If you guessed in the following order a camera maker, a music studio, another airline and a digital alarm clock, you are absolutely wrong.
Nokia, a world leader in mobile phones sells the largest number of cameras in India, outpacing traditional camera makers by bundling cameras with mobile phones. Airtel, a mobile service provider with the largest customer base in India runs the biggest music business, outpacing the traditional music industry by earning more revenue through the sales of caller ring tunes, which let mobile phone users personalize the ringing tune that they hear with people call them. Hewlett-Packard and Cisco are outpacing British Airways by selling videoconferencing services that not only reduce or eliminate travel, but also lesson our impact on the environment. And today, the built-in alarm clock feature on our cell phones has practically eliminated the need for standalone digital alarm clocks.
Who’s outpacing you? If you think it’s your traditional competition, think again or your company may be the next hearty breakfast being served. The competition is everywhere.
Coach Kevin’s Challenge:
- What other industry could take your products and services and bundle them into what they already do?
- Are you tapping into future consumer and business trends to ensure you stay relevant?
- Are you eating the competition for breakfast?
