Change & Innovation is usually a bad idea, until someone does it and proves that it's not...

Taxi firms thought Uber wouldn't work, hotel companies thought Airbnb was a bad idea, music labels thought streaming wouldn't take off, newspapers didn't think anyone would read the news online and radio stations didn't believe TV would work.

There's lots of examples of companies that challenged the status quo being dismissed by those that were the status quo, which is no surprise.

If you have a large market share and millions of consumers use your products or services you probably want it to stay that way. Then someone comes along and tells people "we can do it better" and offers your customers an alternative solution that threatens your position in the market, you don't want them to be right.

It's human nature to look for ways to improve and in business that often means finding solutions to existing problems and creating new solutions that enhance the customer experience and make their lives easier. We will never stop innovating.

When we stop looking at ways to improve or offer an improved customer experience, we get complacent and allow competitors to gain an advantage, before we know it, those companies become a real threat to our business model. Think Blockbuster vs Netflix.

In most industries, the customer is king and it is the customer that usually dictates which products and services become popular. Whilst companies try and influence customer behaviour, Amazon being a good example of that, if you're not making their lives easier/better, meeting their demands/expectations or helping them do more in either their personal or professional lives, they won't be as willing to put their hand in their pocket and pay.

In the freight & logistics industry a number of software products have started to challenge what's considered 'the norm' and are trying to give freight & logistics providers, and their customers, innovative solutions that improve their day to day lives.

As expected, a number of those solutions are met with elements of fear, especially if they're asking people to adapt an existing process, that may not be perfect, but it works.

We are starting to see a shift in mentality though and freight & logistics providers are seeing the positive impact investing is new technology can bring. There will always be those that dismiss new ideas, new technology and new ways of working, but that should never stop people trying to innovate and if you focus on improving the customer experience and work hard to get your product or service right, you become hard to ignore.

Always remember, if someone in the industry you're trying to make your mark in is telling you that your solution won't work, won't change things, won't be what customers want, there's a good chance they're scared you will actually do all those things!