Author: Paul Wallbank

Shortly after World War II, with the coming of the airlines and the US interstate highway system, American railway owners misunderstood they were in the transportation business, not the railway business.

As a consequence, they missed the opportunities to get into the new markets and most of them died.

This is true today as new technology and changed economic circumstances batter old, established industries.

Newspapers for example are not in the newspaper business, they are in the news business and fixating on paper as the medium to deliver that news leaves them struggling to adapt in a world where the main source of news is increasingly the Internet.

We see a similar thing with telephone companies wedded to their old copper networks or car manufacturers building fuel guzzling road yachts.

Recent comments by Rupert Murdoch about charging for content along with Associated Press’ attacks on Google show how the traditional channels are struggling.

This trend is bigger than news or media organisations, the developing communication channels using mediums  like Facebook and Twitter are going to challenge many organisations and change the way business is done.

Business is far more open and transparent, good and bad reviews of your organisation travels further and faster than before.

Your employees, contractors and customers are communicating in channels outside your control.

That’s just in the communication field. The changed economic environment means even more challenges to established businesses.

So the question is what exactly is your business? Which of your customers’ needs does your business fulfil?

Similar posts:

• No Related Posts

Thanks to a series of unfortunate events, I had to rely on wi-fi hotspots for internet access last weekend.

One of the things I quickly discovered was McDonald’s restaurants are a good bet for a reliable connection. As somebody who rarely goes into fast food chains, it was interesting to notice how offering free wi-fi has changed McDonald’s customer base.

When I was a uni student, it wasn’t the done thing to be seen in a Maccas. Sydney Uni students used to hide upstairs in the Broadway outlet so passers by wouldn’t see them enjoying a guilty burger.

Things have changed.

Sitting in the Melbourne McDonald’s last Sunday night I was surrounded by young people using their laptops; in turn this had attracted their friends, and the place has become a gathering spot.

While they probably aren’t spending that much in the way of fries and burgers, they were giving the store a buzz at the time when it probably wouldn’t have been that busy.

The thing that intrigues me is how McDonald’s is now viewed by a group who – having grown out of Happy Meals and the kids play area – were probably not that likely to think of a fast food chain as a destination.

So rather than losing this age group and demographic, Maccas is re-engaging with them on another level. It’s also making it almost respectable for middle aged businessmen to be found sitting in them with a guilty container of French fries.

I see two lessons for other businesses from what McDonald’s is doing – the first is not to fixate on the short term bottom line. The people coming into their restaurants may not be buying much right now, but this move is positioning the chain for the long run.

The second is McDonald’s executives are thinking about how technology can help them.

Many executives seem to be proud of their almost wilful ignorance of all things technology and what it can do for their businesses. Maccas has shown how to take tech and use it to its own advantage.

It’s thinking outside the box that separates the business that will thrive from those who will struggle in this period of great economic and technological change.

How are you thinking outside the box? Have you given any thought to how you can adapt new technologies to meet your customers’ needs, and position your business with tomorrow’s markets?

Similar posts:

• No Related Posts