By Kelebogile Molopyane
When I received the topic for this issue, I couldn’t help but think of Nokia and Blackberry. There was a time when these two brands were leading the market. In fact, there was a time when anybody with a Nokia cellphone thought “there’s Nokia and the rest”. Then, Blackberry came into the market to disrupt, offering the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) way before WhatsApp was even a concept. I’m sure you’re wondering if they were leading with such great innovations, how come they didn’t survive? I invite you to make time and read up on both these interesting cases to understand the value of Reevaluating, Rethinking and Reimagining new possibilities. In the same breath, I ask you, where are you and your business in relation to technology?
We have been thrust into a technological era, where digital transformation is the order of the day. Everything is expected to happen in an instant. Things that we thought were beyond imagination are happening in our backyard (who is ready to go to take up citizenship on Mars or in the Metaverse?). Sit back and soak that in,
PAUSE and ask yourself how this makes you relevant amidst flying cars, artificial intelligence, virtual reality solutions, drone technology and the power of social media in relation to your services and offerings.
REEVALUATE your service offerings. Is there something you can do better or faster for your customers? Is there a system you can employ online – be it free or paid for that can help you improve your business model? Have you considered big data? It’s here and can help you reevaluate as it makes available to you valuable and reliable information about your customers. It can help you study the trends and create a unique selling proposition. How about looking the top 10 trending technologies to see how they are relevant to what you are doing and incorporate one or more to help you gain competitive advantage?
Taking into cognisance that insanity is defined as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results, is it time to RETHINK your business model? Are there new processes, systems and models that needs to be employed to help you move forward including ways to keep employees engaged and productive? Do they need to be coming to the office every day? Can they be productive while working from home? Have you taken advantage of cloud computing and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to help bring in the professional flair despite how small your company may be? Who are your competitors and what are they doing differently from you? Remember that Nokia and Blackberry case study.
When you have done the above, then REIMAGINE a new future for you and your business where you’re still relevant and thriving. What does that look like to you? How have you incorporated technology to advance your business? Have you created a virtual platform to access more clients for your events? Have you created a strong online presence and are you frequently updating your social media platforms? What smart solutions can you come up with that offer gratification for your customers while increasing productivity and enhances decision-making?
Finally, as the main engine behind the business, who is your support system? Who is mentoring and coaching you. Entrepreneurship is seriously an extreme sport that one cannot win without a solid support structure. Surround yourself with people that understand your vision and will be your sound board as you REEVALUATE, RETHINK, and REIMAGINE new possibilities.
