Podcast Episode #5: “Rethink Your Industry” : Why Didn't I Think of That? ®

Podcast Episode #5: “Rethink Your Industry”

Posted by on Friday, January 13, 2012 · 4 Comments 

 

After researching hundreds of successful entrepreneur stories, Why Didn’t I Think of That? co-founders Bob Smith and Greg Anastos realized that all the businesses they were studying were forging very similar pathways to success. So they developed a list of twelve “Axioms for Entrepreneurs.” In the latest episode of the Why Didn’t I Think of That? ® Podcast, Bob and Greg sit down with thinkofthat.net blogger Benjamin Christopher and discuss the first axiom, “Re-think Your Industry.”

Episode #5: “Rethink Your Industry” – January 13th, 2012

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Listen to the podcast above, or download it for free from iTunes.

The Why Guys explore how companies like Netflix, Apple, Xerox, and General Motors were able to look at their industries, and their companies, in a new light. Using fascinating examples as diverse as the bottled water industry and the turn-of-the-century railroad companies, they explain how important it is for companies to re-evaluate what services their business is providing customers and how to examine what their particular industry could be doing better.

The following blog story was originally published on January 25th, 2011.

Axiom #1: Rethink Your Industry.

Chances are you know there’s a better way your industry could serve its customers.

For a little help on this one, I went straight to the person who co-wrote the Axioms, based on extensive research into business history and current startups. Bob Smith is co-founder and co-host of Why Didn’t I Think of That? I asked him to talk to me about what it means to Rethink Your Industry.

So Bob, when we talk about rethinking your industry, are we saying you need to start from the ground up? Are you just adding things to a system that’s already working?

Well, you start by changing your perception of your industry. Define your business by what you do– the end result of your efforts– not by what you make, or by what technology you use. Transportation companies should not consider themselves automakers, or locomotive manufacturers. The purpose of their product is to get people and things from one point to another. Railroad companies ultimately failed because most just considered themselves a company that ran trains.

As opposed to a company that provides people with a vital service or convenience.

Right. You need to look at your industry in terms of — what do you do. If you can adopt that mindset,  you can re-think your industry, and find things that need to change. If you lead that change, you can profit — and build a new business for yourself. Look at your industry. Certainly things could be done better. It may be in the way products are designed or manufactured. It may be in the technology your industry has relied on — like a crutch — for years. It may be in the way it takes its customers for granted — or under-serves their needs. It may just be a segment of the industry — like how orders are processed or delivered. Regardless of the field, if you can get “outside of your skin” even for a day or weekend, you can see your industry with new eyes and point to things that could be done better.

Later this week I’m premiering another new Why Didn’t I… story that’s based off this axiom, about Home Depot. Any other recent examples you can think of where a person or company has radically rethought an industry?

Oh, tons. The example we use on the Axioms page is Netflix. Netflix completely changed video rentals. They took what was essentially a Mom and Pop industry with only one giant chain, and made the whole model almost totally obsolete.

It impacted the distribution of rented movies in a way that changed behavior of both consumers and the motion picture industry. No longer is there a need for a corner store. Once movie distribution moved to disks — the mechanical problems inherent in video cassettes disappeared. And so did storage and shipping issues. Now a movie could be sent in an envelope as thin as a business letter.

And Netflix obviously didn’t invent that technology. But they saw an opportunity. Then, a little bit further down the line, they elevated streaming video to new heights, which itself is in the process of radically changing distribution again.

They’ve been very innovative. They’ve also built off the innovation of others. From the get go, they were harnessing new technologies for ordering and processing — much of which was actually started by Amazon.

Amazon, of course, is another company that rethought its industry.

Amazon.com revolutionized book retailing. It re-thought the “mail order” book business and gave it an entirely new meaning. And in adopting nearly every category of merchandise, Amazon helped give birth to the term “e-commerce.”  It also developed transaction engines, warehousing and customer care systems that became models for businesses in all industries — not just retail.

None of those technologies existed, or were in place, before that. Yet that didn’t stop someone from envisioning the idea. For me, at least, that’s really what Rethinking Your Industry is all about. You don’t ask, “Well, what can I do with what I have?” You ask, “What can I do?” Period. How could this be done differently, if you were going to start from scratch? If this existing model that’s overlording the industry didn’t exist, what would you do? And then you look at what you have, and figure out how to make what you don’t. People have been doing that for centuries. Industries have been radically changed by both tweaks and quantum leaps, because of people who dared to rethink the status quo.

Absolutely. But you have to do better than just rethink what your industry should be. You need to blaze new paths. Or others, more nimble, following along beside you, might snatch away your good ideas. Xerox became a giant via its role as the inventor of copy machines. Along the way, savvy managers realized that to survive, it could not be defined by that technology — it needed to be more of an office systems company. Its Xerox Parc engineers developed a wonderful tool to automate the creation, editing, review and delivery of documents — essentially the modern computer. Its engineers invented the graphical user interface, what we call the desktop, complete with folder icons, a trash barrel and –well, look at your PC today. Steve Jobs didn’t invent that. Neither did Bill Gates. But they were among the young bucks who toured Xerox Parc in the early 70s. And they’re the ones who completed the Re-Thinking of the computer industry.

Bob, thanks so much.

Anytime.

There are many kinds of products and services: Some fill a very specific need. Some update a classic idea with a modern twist. Some do exactly what others are doing, only better. And some dare to re-imagine an entire system or infrastructure. It takes a certain kind of person to look at a situation or industry and see what could be, and not just what is.

But rethinking your industry isn’t the only way to find entrepreneurial inspiration. Next week, we’ll examine #2 of the WDITOT Axioms. But that’s next week. In the mean time, I’ve got a handful of goodies lined up for you, including the World Premiere of another Why Didn’t I Think of That? story.

So add us on Facebook, follow WDITOT (@whydidnti) and the Think of That Blog (@thinkofthat) on Twitter, and subscribe to the blog by email or RSS, to the right of this post. And feel free to drop me a line at bc@thinkofthat.net. Thanks for reading.

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  1. Tweets that mention Think of That » Rethink Your Industry. -- Topsy.com says:
    January 25, 2011 at 10:07 am

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Peter Swifen, Think of That Blog. Think of That Blog said: Rethink Your Industry. Chances are, your industry isn't functioning at full efficiency or effectiveness. So fix it. http://bit.ly/fM1M5w [...]

  2. Think of That » Premiere: Home Depot says:
    January 27, 2011 at 12:11 pm

    [...] On Tuesday, I posted the first piece in my new series on Business Axioms where I spoke with Why Didn’t I Think of That? co-host Bob Smith on what it means to “Rethink Your Industry.” [...]

  3. Think of That » Delicious Resources for Entrepreneurs says:
    February 1, 2011 at 6:02 am

    [...] for reading. Check back later for the second installment in our Business Axioms series. Related Posts:Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made?Giving Thanks and Making BankGoogle Voice #3: [...]

  4. Think of That » Pursue Your Passion says:
    April 16, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    [...] entrepreneurs. In this new series, I take each individual axiom and  have a closer look at it. The first two installments ran in January and February. And now, part three in the twelve-part [...]



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