Adapting and adopting lessons as key to success
| 6th February 2019
The world of business is a ruthless one, where success lies in not just learning from your mistakes, but the mistakes of others. This is also true for successes, where taking a great idea from a competitor and adapting it into your own model can often make the difference between a business’s life and death.
On the modern business front, this is perhaps nowhere as visible as it is in the world of the online. As an active and ever-evolving marketplace, the internet is one which takes no prisoners, where staying in front means keeping both hands on the wheel and constantly pushing forward.
Part of this is due to changing technology, though another important component comes from the culture of the internet itself. Areas of engagement rapidly change in the digital environment, even if the offers of these areas might be fundamentally the same.
Understanding the forms this can take means taking a look at which online industries are the most competitive, and the changes which they adopt in order to stay at the front of the pack. One of the best examples of this is the online casino industry, which has a highly competitive market whose life relies on being either the first to innovate or only a few steps behind.
Take online roulette for example. We all know roulette as a popular casino game, as it has been in its various forms for generations. Physical locations like Gentings Manchester and Salford casinos have used these for years, and the popularity of this game made it a great fit for a translation into the online space.
The creation of live casino games, with their increased engagement and convenience, raised the bar in a way many didn’t anticipate. This quickly led to many imitators, with those who didn’t being left behind and suffering all the more because of it.
An older example of this adaptation could be seen in the way in which organisations approach social media. Originally seen as a simple avenue on which to advertise, modern social media efforts are just as much about engagement through communication and humour. Succeeding with a business in the online world today means understanding social media interaction and adopting it as a fundamental base, the ignorance or misunderstanding of which has caused major harm for some.
The same could be said about adopting an online payment and ordering system. Quickly becoming the chosen method of shopping for many, succeeding as a modern business means taking the systems from your competitors and creating your own version better suited to your own sector. The convenience of online shopping often makes the difference between a purchase or not for many of us, so learning the lessons of others is crucial.
Of course, the best way to really get out ahead is to be the first but, generally, this can only really be achieved by the biggest or the luckiest among the industry. Instead, succeeding in online business today is more about following online businesses and your own industry closely.
Not all new developments will lead to success but having the understanding and responsiveness to adopt that which does work is more important than ever, and should be a key part of every effective business plan.