Reinventing Yourself

The best companies reinvent themselves to stay relevant and profitable in the modern economy. Because if they don’t, it’s quite possible they won’t be around by 2030.

Meanwhile, individuals reinvent themselves to live better lives.

Once Upon a Time

During the industrial and agricultural eras, the owners of companies were wealthy, and the less-privileged masses worked for them on their factory floors, out in the fields, and on ships.

Most people had no choice but to serve the owners of companies, because back in the old days, it took a lot of money to start your own company, and that was beyond the reach of most people.

But now we live in a different economy and technology has been democratised. The technology that was once the preserve of big companies with deep pockets is now available to any individual - for free or less than a dollar a day.

This means that anyone with some good old fashioned common sense and entrepreneurial spirit can become the captain of their own ship – providing they have something of value to offer the world.

You don’t even need to jack in your day job while building your new business, and right now there are thousands of people building a business in their spare time. One that might eventually enable them to live independently of any one employer.

So, while most people in the last century had no choice but to work for someone else, the world is now a different place, with so much opportunity within the reach of almost anyone.

Digital Economy Mavericks

Since the digital era took-off, we've seen an increasing number of people take their future into their own hands. The falling cost of technology reduced the barriers to entry for starting a business, while the increasing possibilities of new technology paved the way to produce products and services that required little in the way of physical assets, money or people to make and deliver them.

From Gates and Jobs, to Ma and Musk, to Zuckerberg, Bezos and others, the list of digital economy ambassadors has continued to grow.?

These are the modern economy mavericks who set examples for the world about how new companies could and would be built. They showed us that the need for physical assets, cash and large workforces was being diminished by the affordable availability of new technologies, new ways of working, and new ways of thinking.

Those visionaries both inspired and paved the way for the growing number of entrepreneurs that exist today - most of whom remain out of the mainstream spotlight.

Using digital tools to sell digital products, like me, founders who started with one customer, within a few years found themselves with thousands of customers, without needing else’s approval or money.

While many of us talk about the disruption of other companies, stop for a moment and consider your own disruption and whether you have the entrepreneurial spirit to turn that thought into reality.

You don’t need to know about technology, because you simply take advantage of the SaaS solutions that super-smart software developers have created for us.

As with big companies, technologies are simply the enabling tools that help us build modern companies. It’s your business capabilities that will determine your success. Not your technical capabilities - unless you sell or implement technology products or services.

While my business takes advantage of the blockchain, machine learning, data, and so many other technologies, I don't understand them in any detail, and neither do I need to.

A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.

Nolan Bushnell - Co-Founder of Atari

A Look in the Mirror

From the 1990's I spent my time helping big companies take advantage of technology to undergo transformation and change, and like a lot of people, I was quick to suggest what other companies should or shouldn’t do.?Then in 2015 I looked in the mirror and asked myself …

“Rob, why are you telling other companies why, what and how they need to use digital to transform, when you’re not doing it for yourself? You've spent 20 years making a living from the traditional independent consultant business model, so isn’t it about time you used technology to disrupt yourself?”

So I bit the bullet and set about building a business in my spare time, and in 2018 I documented the progress I had made by that time, which you can read in this LinkedIn article .

Fast-forward four years into 2022 and my career and life are very different as a result of taking some of my own medicine. While I spent more than two decades only able to help a few companies at any one time. Now I get to help thousands.

Success and Failure

As with any other period in history, starting a business is one thing, while making it a success is quite another.

People who have enjoyed successful careers in employment often tend to be overconfident about their ability to build and run a company. But the capabilities required to be a successful employee are very different to those required to build and run a successful business. So while your enthusiasm might be off the clock, it's worth staying mindful of the overconfidence effect .

According to data from the American Bureau of Labor Statistics, as reported by Fundera here are some stats about new small businesses:

• Year 1: Around 20 percent fail
• Year 2: Around 30 percent fail
• Year 5: Around 50 percent fail

On the other hand there are plenty of success stories written by those who kept an open mind and made good decisions. If you’re prepared to accept the fact that you need to acquire new capabilities that you might currently be clueless about, and you keep an open mind, you have a good chance of building a successful business.

But of course, owning a business isn’t for everyone. From security to status and other reasons, most people still prefer to stick with employment. While others like me prefer the freedom, independence, and ability to make any decision without the approval of anyone else.

The Opportunity

I want more people who focus on topics such as innovation, digital and transformation to recognise that they don't need to be part of someone else's company to take advantage of the digital economy. Those days are well and truly gone.

Now it's easy for any individual to take advantage of the affordable digital tools required to start and grow a profitable business - without the need for funding or anything that costs very much.

There are tens of thousands of people already doing this, but none of them have a background in innovation, technology or business transformation. They're simply open-minded individuals who embraced new business ideas that capitalise on the Internet, SaaS solutions, and new customer habits.

The opportunity is there for people to take their own bite out of the digital economy, instead of only helping other companies do it. But of course, this is only going to appeal to those with an entrepreneurial mindset.

It's one thing to help companies we don't own or control and suggest how they could transform, but it's quite another to practice what we preach inside our own business.

But when you own the business, you get to call all the shots, and you’re accountable for all the successes and all the failures.

You can say goodbye to the days when you hope other people will agree to change things. Instead you’ll make a decision, and you’ll make the change happen. No committees and no bureaucratic delays. If you want to implement a new system, you'll do it. If you want to hire a new expert, you’ll do it. Very affordably - and within hours, instead of months.

Practice What You Preach

I'm a big believer in practising what I preach, so after years of advising companies how to take advantage of digital, I took some of my own medicine and did it myself. And quite honestly, it's been the best career decision of my life.

An increasing number of people are taking advantage of digital like I did, to be the captain of their own ship. They've decided that their capabilities, enthusiasm and potential won't be suppressed by other people. More importantly, they've decided that they're capable of building something that they own, and that they no longer need a boss or an employer.

Most of these entrepreneurs won’t build the next Amazon or AirBnb, but they will enjoy a new and liberating opportunity to make an extremely good living, void of the constraints that most companies would impose upon them. In many cases, their digitally generated income can easily exceed what they could ever expect to get paid as an employee.

Consumers Versus Producers

Billions of people on our planet are now digital economy consumers. They spend their time and money on digital apps, devices, products and services - feeding the digital economy with their money.

Meanwhile, the entrepreneurs are busy producing as well as consuming. They're capitalising on the fact that the constraints of the past are gone, and that they don't need anyone's permission to write their own success story. They don't need a big company, a workforce, expensive technology, or fancy office space.

These entrepreneurs have seized the new economy opportunity and stepped onto the path that the digital mavericks laid down for us. The opportunity that every professional with the right mindset could take advantage of.?

You don't even need to jack in your job or try your luck with other firms that promise a brighter future. Instead, take control of your own destiny and launch your own small initiative like I did - outside of your day job. Because a few hours each day, before or after work, is all it takes to start and grow your own business.

This is how a lot of business owners get started, and as their confidence and second income grows, they eventually reach a point where they're ready to bid farewell to employment and enjoy a transformation of their life.

How are you taking advantage of the new economy to reinvent how you make a living?