Are you a Digital Transformation leader? Can you create a high performance strategy in the digital age? Have you got what it takes to avoid the tumbling barrels of distracting digital tactics, over hyped technology or the belief that your market is immune to disruption? Have you allocated the right resources to deliver a focused plan of transformation?
Most failed Digital Transformation projects start with technology or digital tactics. It’s so easy to do. We look for systems to integrate, data centres to use, website personas and wonderful designs. We seek out customers to engage with on social media and make lots of “content strategies”. Our plans are often built on assumptions and an extension of our current business model. While these activities are important, they rarely create digital success. More often, they are digital distractions.
Any business can be a Digital Business, whether the transition is gradual or a leap. When referring to Digital Businesses the word ‘digital’ is an indication of speed and adaptability, not technology. Becoming a Digital Business requires informed leaders who can create a strategy using evidence, lead teams to work in different ways, educate themselves and their peers on how to approach challenges using data driven decision making and create constant cycles of agile, focused innovation.
Data-Driven Innovation
As data becomes more widely available, more people can leverage on big data analysis services to tackle problems to find forward-thinking and new solutions to some of the biggest challenges. These opportunities for innovation are improving lives and creating opportunities for a new class of tech entrepreneurs. Right now you’re thinking “we do some Digital Business activities on occasion”. True high performance Digital Businesses continuously accept and practise all of the functions listed above, without compromise.
What is Innovation?
Innovation is the creation of a viable new offering. It is used by organizations, big or small to create profitable opportunities. Not to be commonly mistaken as invention, innovation may not need to be the creation of something new. Most innovations are adopted from other countries or organizations. It may not be new to the world – only to a market or industry.
Innovation has to add value to the consumer and be financially sustainable. If it is not money making in the short run, you can still struggle to keep afloat. But in the long run, it will not be profitable. Thus, your innovation has to be viable and exist for a long period of time.
Lastly, offering. Think beyond products. How about systems, services, processes, business models? Offerings are not simply products and services, but we can focus more on processes and services.
Four key objectives for Business Model Innovation
1. To satisfy existing unanswered market needs.
Markets may not understand what they are looking for. One example would be Tata Nano, one of the cheapest cars. In India, there is a big group of people who are unable to afford cars. Tata came up with this car model using the basics of what a car should have. This has been created to meet an unanswered existing need for the middle income group in India that needs transportation without paying a premium price.
- To bring new technologies, products or services to market
One example would be the innovation of coffee. It is available to us everywhere, in various packaging – brewed or instant. However, Nespresso was the player who innovated the capsule coffee. In a nutshell, what Nespresso did here was to use technology products and services to the marketplace.
- To improve, disrupt or transform an existing market with a better business model
Game consoles are very complex when it comes to the controllers. Nintendo has improved their gaming process by using very simple games and incorporated it in a simple game console. Nintendo was the first to redesign and disrupt gaming experience. Now, gaming experience has developed overtime with technology such as virtual reality gaming.
- To create an entirely new market
Sometimes consumers may not know what they want, so it’s up to the businesses to create the product that excites them. Within a short window, Zoom has replaced virtually any physical needs for a meeting. Thus, Zoom has fulfilled the demand of a new market that will be very scalable and has dominated the market.
For more details on business model innovation, please watch this previously recorded webinar on Introduction to Business Model Innovation – A Step by Step Guide ✅ (2020).
