Business Dinosaurs...

The times they are a-changin'...

Entrepreneur Magazine has an online article called 10 Businesses Facing Extinction in 10 Years that brought back some real memories for me. It also got me to thinking about the challenge facing all business leaders - how to keep an eye on the changing, long term business environment while concurrently working on the business today.

A number of years ago I worked at Camelot Music, one of the pre-eminent music retailers in the country. We developed an incredibly successful business that operated at the pinnacle of the music industry; our operations, financial performance and - most importantly - people were considered the best in the business. As I look back on the company now I realize that our very success shielded us from the coming tidal wave of change that could be summed up in one word: Internet. We didn't believe that a brick and mortar company could be supplanted by a tool used primarily by university researchers (and evidently invented by Al Gore...) To use a cliche, we couldn't see the internet forest for the trees. The article I link to mentions another prominent music retailer whose fate was determined by the success of the online retailers and digitization of music and movies.

Think about some other businesses that have made significant changes due to a changing market and yet are still a leader in their industry. Companies like IBM come to mind (seriously, what is a "business machine"?) who have transitioned the bulk of their offering to consulting services rather than products. Or how about Apple? Instead of a computer manufacturer they are now more known for the iPod and the new iPhone.

As a business leader schedule time each week to reflect on the changing industry, the advancements in technology and the financial implications of staying where you are. The most successful businesses are those that know where they are going and seek to get there first.

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