3 Questions: S-Curve Innovation
1) Where is your company on this curve?
2) Do you need to reinvent yourself?
3) Are you relying on the past to fuel the future?
1. Where is your company on the product S-Curve? Whether you are just starting out or you’ve been in the game for a while, chances are that your company is somewhere on this curve. Time passes, markets and technology constantly evolve. Your product may have broken new ground, however, over time you need to refresh, innovate, iterate and evolve.
2. Do you need to reinvent yourself? Are your sales slowing, margins eroding, or customer turnover increasing? Is so, it may be time to reinvest yourself and re-launch your company with new new growth driver that may be very different than what the company was founded upon.
3. Are you relying on the past to fuel the future? Are your products set in stone?: Companies should always be experimenting and planning for their own product life cycle demise since every company has a predictable path for growth. What most companies miss is the need to reinvent the company on-going basis or face extinction since markets perfect over time. Your product plan should not be set in stone.
Immitation: If you are making a lot of money and getting market share, it will attract competitors that want to mimic you, with at least the appearance of a better, cheaper, faster product. Keep refreshing your products to stay ahead of the imitators.
About Rick Jackson
Rick is a Dallas based serial entrepreneur that has successfully pioneered and commercialized new, disruptive technology into emerging markets such as distance learning, outsourcing, cyber security, audio/video broadcasting, health care email encryption, and education institutions document management. He has 25+ years in building, leading, and deploying “market maker” sales teams for companies such as EDS, Broadcast.com, Yahoo!, McAfee/Intel, Zix, and Biz Accelerator.
Rick is the founder of BizAccelerator that helps young companies find a market and generate new sales. He serves as a mentor at the Dallas Entrepreneur Center, the United Way Ground Floor incubator, and teaches Entrepreneurial courses for the SMU professional and continuing education school.
He serves on advisory boards for Roma Boots, nGame, Armor, YellowFolder, Medibookr, Zencash, and NoiseAware.
Founder, CEO and Chief Accelerator
