Disruptive innovation, disruptive business, and disruptive business models are phrases we all have heard. But what does a disruptive business mean? What does it take to run a disruptive business? How can you create a disruptive business? Stick around and you will find out the answers in this article.
What is a disruptive business?
Disruptive business addresses suppressed pain points of a particular market that has been ignored by the major market players.
Disruptive businesses do not necessarily have to reinvent the wheel; however, they implement disruptive innovations that help them carve out a niche for themselves out of an already existing market.
Through disruptive innovations, smaller businesses can gain a competitive advantage over the big dogs in the market.
Looking at history you will discover most of the top biggest companies in the world started as disruptive businesses. Some examples are WordPress, Facebook, Paypal, etc. Leveraging on the first starter advantage in their niche they were able to scale.
Keys to building an innovative business
First of all, everything starts and ends with the customers. What this implies is that you must carry out extensive research on your customers. Pay attention to what they are saying and what they are not saying.
Sometimes customers don’t know exactly what they want because they haven’t experienced it before. Who would have ever thought we could have access to millions of movies for less than $5 monthly, but Netflix did it?
The goal is finding the “job to be done” that your product or service will do for your customers. For example, Netflix’s “job to be done” is delivering blockbuster movies at their customers’ convenience…
Here are some bricks and mortar to help you build your disruptive business
1, Find suppressed needs and exploit them.
This means finding lapses in the already existing products and services. The most disruptive businesses are usually formed by capitalizing on shortcomings in existing products, services, and systems.
An example is Wikipedia which by leveraging the internet gave customers access to thousands of encyclopedia information on their smartphones for free. Before the advent of Wikipedia readers will have to purchase several copies of large encyclopedias.
2, Innovation holds it all together
There is no disruption without innovation, I repeat there is no disruption without innovation.
According to Wikipedia “Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services”
Innovation creates a path for your business in such a way that you can carve a new niche. A perfect example of this is Skype. Skype made international calls free, simple, and easy for users. Being a first mover, skype was able to create an entirely new market of international video calls and chats. According to EarthWeb, skype has over 1.9 billion registered users and about 300 million monthly users.
Like Steve Jobs once said “innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower.
Innovation can be done in several ways
- Creating new technology
- Leveraging on current technology
- Innovation in business models
- Innovation in structures and systems
3 Create your market
Carving out a market for your business can be quite tricky, but the knack for it is finding cracks in whatever industry you are in.
Several frameworks can be used to help you in creating your market. Some notable frameworks are:
- Ansoff matrix :
- The four actions Framework
- The S.G.E.T.D framework
Examples of Disruptive Business
1 Netflix: Netflix transformed from a rental video streaming platform, through innovative customer-centric marketing strategies. Netflix has been able to capture its users ‘ attention for an extended period. Like Reed Hastings, the CEO mentioned that sleep was their biggest competition.
2 Skype. Founded in 2003, skype was the first platform that allowed users to make voice calls, video calls, and chat over the internet for free. It is currently the largest video calling platform today with over 1.9 billion registered users and over 300 million monthly users. This can be credited to its’ being a first mover in that industry
3 Habib Yogourt; Habib yogurt is a Nigerian owned business that built its brand on an already existing product “Fura de Nunu”. It is a favorite meal in the northern part of the country. Habib Yogurt is named after the founder Habib.
The business was able to disrupt the market through detailed branding and packaging targeting urban areas. Then they adopted the chain outlet business model which makes it easy for their customers to reach them
Conclusion
Building a disruptive business depends majorly on your understanding of your customers. This is what drives innovation.
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