When does an entrepreneur become highly desperate?
It is when the Start Up is going downhill in terms of financial performance & cash crunch. What do entrepreneur’s usually do out of desperation? Entrepreneurs try out everything under the sun in the hope that the situation could be revived. But how does a common man look at it? The user sees a failing & a falling business. The other stakeholders too think twice before entering or continuing with the business relationship. An entrepreneur should NEVER EVER show his desperation or come across as needy. Desperation will force entrepreneurs to search for options/solutions that they would normally would not consider. Entrepreneurs need to find ways to delete & defeat the thought of desperation so, what is the way to do it? DISRUPTION.
Disruption happens when an entrepreneur provides a breakthrough solution to an existing problem whereas identifying a brand-new solution for a brand-new problem or a brand new opportunity is non-disruptive creation. Disruption is usually seen as the first & foremost step towards excellence for a StartUp/Industry. The key elements of disruptive innovations are- sophisticated technology that simplifies, low-cost innovative business models & economically coherent value network.
To be truly disruptive TRANSFORMATION of a product, service or solution in an industry is able to overthrow existing market leaders through its low-cost simple solutions that is accessible & affordable by a larger population. Examples of such disruptions are Video streaming like Netflix, Smart phones disrupted the laptop industry by providing internet services so that applications can be used anywhere & everywhere with internet connectivity, retail medical clinics are replacing multi-specialty/super-speciality hospitals for treating specific minor ailments, LED replacing tube lights & bulbs that initially none paid heed to, Peer to Peer (P2P) accommodations like Airbnb that has forced the hotel industry to rethink their business models.
How to Disrupt?
Once an entrepreneur understands that disruption is the only way forward, he needs to focus on the “HOW?” Instead of being an “another anything” an entrepreneur requires to search for “different something”. Envision a new/different way of doing things instead of just tweaking the edges & playing safe.
Fundamentally 3 questions have to be addressed in order to disrupt. They are
What am I going to invent/break?
Why will everyone applaud the breakthrough?
What should I do for an encore?
Methods/Ways to Disrupt
LISTEN where no one else is listening- There are always a section of people whose needs are not addressed. Listen & understand what their NEEDS are. These people are the under-served market where the entrepreneur has immense potential to convert them into target market.
CHANGE/IMPROVISE your market’s typical business model-
CREATE entirely new VALUE.