You’ve heard the saying “innovate or die,” right?

There’s a bit of a kerfuffle about who coined the phrase, but there’s no doubt that it’s 100% valid in today’s business world.

Stay ahead of the pace of change, or you’re toast.

That’s why innovation is Number 4 on TurboExecs’ List of Guiding Principles.

So what happens when a company doesn’t innovate?

Here are two familiar and fairly recent examples.

Blockbuster became famous in the ‘90s for their movie and video game rental service. They offered an easy way for consumers to access the movies and games they wanted the most. But as technology advanced and brought streaming content and online gaming into people’s homes, preferences shifted. Blockbuster failed to keep pace with the changes in technology, and ultimately died.

Toys R Us held the belief that the in-store experience is what drove sales of toys. That was true for a while, but customer preferences changed as technology changed the online buying experience. Online sales of toys massively eroded their market share over time and ultimately led them to bankruptcy.

Of course, these are extreme examples — but they happened, and they share a common thread. That common thread? Failure to innovate.

Here’s how this relates to your business.

1. In today’s environment, “doing things the way we always have” (which makes me cringe, by the way) is the marker for a slow death. It states the intention that you’d rather not put in the effort to innovate. Now is the time to change that thinking.

2. If you’re growing fast, piling more volume on processes that are broken or poorly designed will break them and your staff who are just trying to do their jobs. Now is the time to upgrade those workflows.

3. Innovation creates positive transformation by way of up-leveling processes and operations — think faster, more effective, more cost efficient, more robust, more accurate, more insightful.

At TurboExecs, we believe in improving the lives of business owners by understanding their goals and dreams, removing barriers, providing a clear understanding of where they are, and a path to where they want to go.

We have the unique talent, tools, systems and processes to make that happen. Interested? Reach out here.