You can make a business out of servicing people’s wants. But you can shape an industry by creating wants that don’t yet exist. Being a trend setter necessitates being different and appealing to a segment (initially) much smaller than the mainstream. The keys of business innovation have always been relevance and value in novelty. With the barriers to business entry so small, the risks of innovating as much smaller there is no reason why every brand (personal or corporate) shouldn’t be experimenting with not only servicing, but creating wants.
2 Comments
1 andrew wrote:
One of my favorite hypothetical questions that gets thrown around from time to time is: If (back in the day) you were offered a chance to invest in a horse and buggy that used revolutionary wheel technology to reduce bumpiness of travel and increase speed, would you? Or would you wait for the car to be invented?
Much harder to answer the question if you can’t predict the future, but the inventor of the automobile had the choice to either improve on the current product, or create a new one entirely. Creating a new “want” is the toughest thing to do (and riskiest), but it has the best potential payout.
2 EF wrote:
Thanks, Andrew. I always think back to that faster horse vs car thing as well. Its so easy to see when looking back over 100 years, but fascinating (And important) to think about in the current or short term future as well.