When a company doesn’t innovate, it dies.

Remember those 90s/early 2000s favorites – Blockbuster and Toys R Us?

Blockbuster 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 improved the online buying experience. Online sales of toys massively eroded their market share over time and ultimately led them to bankruptcy.

The common thread of both of these stores you might have taken your kids to?

Failure to innovate.

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.

Here are three key things you need to know about innovation and your business (so you keep growing and thriving, not going the way of Toys R Us and Blockbuster).