Video: What is disruptive innovation? Business disruptors explained.

If you’ve already subscribed to my free YouTube channel, you’ll know that I’m enjoying bringing a bit of disruption to the internet. If you haven’t subscribed, what on earth are you waiting for? It won’t cost you a penny and through my series of vlogs, you’ll get all sorts of advice, tips and help when it comes to running or starting up your own business. And talking of disruption, today’s Speak Like Shaf – my series where I explain to you what business buzzwords mean – is going to look at what disruption in business refers to…

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We know that disruption generally means the act of throwing something into turmoil or disorder or interrupting its progress and, when it comes to business, the meaning isn’t a million miles away from this. American academic and business consultant Clayton Christensen came up with the phrase “disruptive innovation”, referring to a new and underrated product or service that gains enough popularity to replace a traditional or conventional product or service. The product starts at the very bottom of the market but gains a cult following which becomes more mainstream and finally becomes a market leader.

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Here’s my Stone Age chum, Rab The Rock Star. Not only was he the world’s first entrepreneur, he was also the world’s first disruptive innovator. Not bad for a man who didn’t even have access to the internet and could only communicate long distance by using smoke signals! So Rab hit on a brilliant business when he started making tools from flint to help hunt prey. He was a dreadful hunter but sold them to his neighbours and friends and changed their lives forever. He was what we would now recognise as a disruptive innovator because he introduced completely new products, new technology and replaced hunters trying to catch their prey with their bare hands. Well done, Rab!

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A more recent example of a firm disrupting the market is Netflix. I’m old enough to remember that once upon a time, people had to leave the house to rent a video or DVD of the film they wanted to watch. I know, in this day and age of having everything at our fingertips ready to download, it seems like something out of Rab’s era. In 1997, Netflix was founded and launched an online and mail DVD service. Within a few years, it started an online subscription streaming service. Earlier this year it had a whopping 148million subscribers around the world. Incredible to think that just a couple of decades ago, these people would have had to buy the film or rent it from a store like Blockbuster or Global Video instead of having the luxury of deciding on a whim to watch it.

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We’ve probably been brought up to think that disruption is a bad thing. We imagine leaves on the line causing disruption to train services or kids in a classroom disrupting lessons and ruining it for the children who want to learn. But, as we have seen, disruption in business is a good thing. If one product is the result of thinking outside the box, rivals are forced to raise their game and the consumer ultimately has more choice. So disrupters of the world, follow in my footsteps and go ahead and start challenging the status quo! Let me know what you think and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel