If you take a look around right now, you could see that the world is at its tipping point. Traditional companies are on the edge of losing to companies that embrace innovation. As a company, you actually want to become the Tesla of your industry. Why?
Innovation inspires
With the right innovation, you can leave your competition far behind. This can be seen in the automotive industry, with all those renowned brands. Whether it be price, reliability or luxuriousness as their selling point, these brands are now being overtaken by the new trend, Tesla. Tesla does not aim to beat its competition by marketing their product as either durable or affordable but instead as having the latest technology. Offering something where other car brands barely compete in. What Tesla is doing is creatively bringing innovation into a traditional market.
As entrepreneurs, it could do us well to take a page from their book. I believe that within each of us, there is some semblance of an aspiration to be like Tesla. To leave our competition in the dust with our innovations. I think it’s only natural to feel similarly. To be the Tesla of our own industry.
Let’s take Red Bull as another example. They were actually the Tesla of the soft drink industry decades ago. Among soft drinks, there were Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Fanta and Sisi, and so on. While these companies competed to be the tastiest or cheapest Red Bull came along, and basically said “I’m not going to compete with you in that area at all. I’m putting something out there that doesn’t exist yet.” They combined an old pharmacy recipe with soda, and sold it as an energy drink. Originally, this was mainly targeted at truck drivers, as a means of staying awake during long drives.
When a customer stops looking further
What is often the big trick by which companies become the Tesla of their industry? It’s by embedding technology in a classic industry. Take Bakker Bart, for example. They are in a very old-fashioned industry. They bake buns. You could hardly get any more old-fashioned. But what have they done? They deployed a web system that allows them to organize their business on a larger scale. For example, they integrated an ordering system so that orders arrive faster at franchise stores. Another feature is that customers can now place orders online. Wherever you are in the Netherlands, take a look at bakkerbart.nl and in a few clicks you can get a filled sandwich delivered to your home.
That’s when people stop looking for a bakery nearby. Because they know Bakker Bart is simply a few clicks away from arriving at your doorstep. This is actually what we all want to see. This is actually how we prefer to see the use of technology and automation.
Technology offers opportunities
So, of course you want to be the Tesla of your industry. But where should you start? The big question you want to ask yourself is: How can I give my customers such an experience where they don’t compare you to your competitors? How do I establish the most unique and easiest concept within my industry?
Take a good look at the possibilities of technology. The balance between the front-end, the part of your business that customers interact with, and the back-end, where your employees work, is very important. For the front-end, you need to think about customer journeys, usability, and customer experiences. For the back-end, you look at what your employees need. You want to automate the front-end in an innovative way, but at the same time innovate the back-end so that the internal processes run as smoothly as possible. That way you can offer something unique, and also continue to deliver optimally.