A disruption in any market can either be profitable for a business or it can make the business a footnote to history. But is there a way for enterprises to predict market changes instead of reacting to them afterward?
The biggest superpower of people who have changes history has always been to predict the future. It has always been their ability to influence the present while keeping an eye on the present, and the other on their vision. More often than not, predicting change starts with generating awareness that can help you sense the direction of a market. And markets only change for good if there is an innovation. A disruption. A progressive leap forward.
This is what we will talk about in this article. We will decipher how you can not only perceive when a disruption can happen but how you can avoid some pitfalls and make sure there’s always a place for your business in the post-disruptive time.
Disruption is perceived as a sudden event. However, it has a long incubation period. This period hints at if an innovation (technological, social, or cultural) will have a disruptive impact on the market. Often, these clues are unrecognized or underestimated. In both cases, the consequences for a business are dramatic when the inevitable disruption knocks at the door.
Let’s explore four unmistakable signs that tell us if our market is going to experience a disruption. These signs are often the difference between entrepreneurs who keep struggling and entrepreneurs who end up owning a market’s segment.
Loss of customer confidence
The first sign is the loss of consumer confidence in the current system. A good example of that is what’s currently happening with social media platforms. The issue of privacy and digital data is in the eye of the storm. Users are now aware that their digital data and habits are sold by companies like Facebook. This awareness is growing and will soon explode into a disruptive event.
At first look, it seems obvious that loss of customer trust means that things might go bad for your business soon. But most businessmen make the mistake of thinking that more money, more ads, and more exposure is the answer. Often, the answer lies in understanding the customers and reinventing a part of their offering.
Hesitation to Innovate
The second sign is market leaders avoiding technological innovations or improvements. Big enterprises in television and cinema are such examples. Streaming technology and digitalized content emerged years ago, but large traditional companies underestimated their impact until YouTube, Netflix and Amazon revolutionized the market. Businesses worth billions became a footnote to history because of this one mistake. Without constant innovation, you can’t sustain your competitive edge.
Unreasonable pricing models
If the price of certain products/services aren’t accessible to the majority of the population, a new player will enter the market and create a disruption. For a long time, website development services had unreasonable price tags. Consequently, platforms like WordPress and Wix took the market by storm. Cost-effectiveness is one of the most powerful ways to deliver value to the customer.
Lack of ease of use
If the products or services of a given market are too hard to use, disruption can be expected. Steve Jobs once said that one should start from the customer experience and go back to the technological solution. A great example of this disruption is the emergence of photo editing apps—a disruption that happened because Photoshop wasn’t easy enough to use for most people.
It’s not often that a major change occurs, but in recent years, the speed of innovation and change has experienced an unprecedented acceleration.
To excel in today’s competitive business landscape, one must be perceptive so as to react before the disruption occurs—not after it’s too late. I hope the four principles mentioned above will help one react to the markets in a profitable way and become an agent of change.
