Don’t WASTE time inventing New Business Ideas! Try to IMPROVE What’s Already Working

You may have heard this phrase before ‘Nothing is new under the sun’!! 

The earlier you believe this, the better for you and all of us, or just stop reading this post and keep up with your social distancing regimen!

At this time where the world is tripling their efforts in a bid to contain the corona virus we see a number of startups trying to come up with the next new app idea or service idea or even a cure to the pandemic — but it seems like quite a number of tech startups right now are just putting a new spin on existing products, pharmaceutical companies trying out old drugs or the combination of two or more existing drugs to cure the disease or manage its spread. Now I ask this question, is there a value in exploring new approaches to existing solutions that we know works?

While the sense of fulfillment you derive from creating something novel like the next Amazon sounds awesome or maybe flattering, the truth is you don’t need to attempt inventing something entirely new to bring to the market. Ideas that are both novel and genuinely solve hard problems are hard to come by.

If we observe close enough, we’ll notice that some of the startups growing at rocket speed — Uber, AirBnB, Gokada, Paystack and dare I say it, TESLA — are all based on pre-existing business models with a fantastic twist applied.

But wait! Can You See Anything Wrong With Current Products?

Ride hailing taxis like Bolt, Uber or China’s Didi, did not invent taxis, no sir!! — they only simply probed the existing business model, saw what was defective, remodeled it and served it on your table.

There’s no customer who wouldn’t appreciate innovative breakthroughs on a service they are currently engaging. These breakthroughs may be as simple as just increasing comfort by creating an app where you can book a taxi from the comfort of your home, or just making easy a logistics process like delivering a refrigerator I bought for my dad right to his doorstep.

I have realized it doesn’t take a lot to breathe newness into already stale business concepts that will scale quickly and impact the lives of its customers.

Look For An Old Product And Give It A New Turn

This year 2020, is proof positive that every year our world  changes so fast that we constantly see how these changes, from climate change to pandemic and everything in between, affect every business out there. On the other hand, how can you evolve existing business models, using the current trends in technology, product development, etc.?

These changes can ultimately create completely new business models for startups, like eCommerce slowly taking over our physical stores and markets, or social media reshaping human interactions. 

For instance, while Myspace primarily provided an online hangout solution for friends, Facebook provided a site that allows us to showcase the results of all that hanging out, through walls, timelines etc. You see, people are attracted to innovation that supports the practices they are already engaged in. [How Facebook toppled the reign of Myspace]

It’s now more obvious that when you give an old product or service a new twist, you don’t have to look for customers. People already need taxis, they need to move around for whatever reason. What you need to do is take advantage of a changing technology landscape, transform the taxi business to drive market share.

There are insane amounts of value you can derive from entering a proven market with primed and prepared ready-to-buy customers versus trying to explain to the world what the heck your novel or brilliant idea is.

Let me tell you a simple fact, lots of products or services you see in the market today are just poorly managed. Just because an incumbent product or startup idea exists, doesn’t mean it’s properly managed. For example think about all the solution providers in a given sector like logistics— are they all killing it on every front?

Probably not – Old Business Models

A Quick Difference: Old Business Model Vs New Business Model

Whether you are starting a startup or small business, you need a business model that is scalable while still solving problems. Changing times demands change of models. We cannot afford to pour new wine into old skins.  According to eSalesTrack, here are the most noticeable differences between old and new business models.

• Today’s strategies and plans are more data-driven while old ones are opinion driven.
• New businesses focus on implementing small changes effectively while old businesses look for big sudden drastic changes.
• Today’s businesses look for continuous improvement opportunities, while old ones change after terms.
• While old business managers try to manage their employees by imposing decisions, new managers only guide/lead them to make right decisions.
• Today’s business decisions are more customer focused while traditional decisions are focused on the company or shareholders

Now you can see the simplicity that comes with innovation cannot be overemphasized. So let’s worry less about invention and focus a bit more on innovation. When time is of the essence, novelty only adds complexity.