Following on the previous blog posts about Digital Transformation, the third type is to leverage technology to fundamentally change your Business Model.
I am not a fan of using cliché examples such as Uber, Apple or Amazon. These are very innovative companies that have developed market changing products and services, but when used to compare with the "average" business, they can seem too out of reach or daunting. This can often limit or scare one away from seriously contemplating one's business model.
To Digitally Transform a Business Model, we are typically talking about changing one or many of the following:
Target market
Product Offering
Delivery Model
Pricing Structure
For example, you are a business that builds decks and your key value proposition is the efficient way you design and plan your projects. The hardest part is finding reliable labour to do the actual building. What if you stopped building the decks but rather provided a service supplying the design plans and supporting people to build their own decks? Technology would play a big role with the platform for Customers to interact online with your professionals designing and reviewing plans, as well as video calls to help the Do It Yourselfer build their own deck.
The Digital Transformation means you are no longer limited by the available work force and your market geography has no bounds!
When COVID-19 hit hard in March 2020, many businesses adjusted to a remote workforce. Adaptation was forced upon them and we all scrambled to put the right policies, procedures and technology in place. The technology for video calls, collaborating on documents and holding virtual team huddles has been available for years. Most businesses did not see what was possible or felt the change was too difficult or had little upside.
Now almost 1 year later, many businesses who adapted are considering not going back to the way it was before. For many, this forced Digital Transformation has had the benefits of:
Increased Employee Satisfaction
Lower Overhead Costs
Expanded Hiring Geography
The Digital Transformation of your Business Model is hard. Not just hard to do, but often hard to see what is possible. That is why many businesses avoid this change. But as the famous quote says, "If you don't change, you die."
I highly recommend taking the time to think seriously, and without blinders, about how you could run your business differently. It does mean you have to change, but if you give yourself time to think about what is possible, then you can make an informed decision to change or stay the same.
Choosing to ignore what is possible with technology is the same as deciding not to evolve your business.
