And some adjusted their sails – episode one

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The winds of change have been prevalent since the beginning of human civilization. Perhaps at the beginning of the “Bronze Age”, the stone-crafters were super upset at the fear of losing their livelihood. Similar scenario must played out as the use of iron started to gain momentum and the bronze expert dudes must have put up great resistance!

But the change triumphed.

Today the wind of change is blowing faster & stronger or that our present perception. The only businesses that remained afloat are those who adjusted their sails in time. 

I contemplating to post a mini-series about The Ones who didn’t lose and start with the fantastic story about Netflix.

In 1997, American entrepreneurs Reed Hastings and March Rudolph founded Netflix as a video-rental company. The “dot com” revolution was then reaching its peak while a much bigger digital storm was brewing in the backdrop.  As the internet continued to grow more relevant, Netflix did not get into a denial mode and bury their head in the sand. Instead that faced the challenge and adjusted their sails.

By 2007 Netflix took advantage of the speed of the internet and began offering subscribers, the option to stream some movies and television shows directly to their homes. The popularity grew at a phenomenal speed and in 2016, their service streamed directly to  homes in more than 190 countries. By the end of 2018, the number of subscribers exceeded 130 million and generated bulk of their revenue.

Netflix decided to create variety of contents to satisfy the taste and need of their subscribers and developed complicated algorithm for predicting an individual’s movie preferences based on past choices. This further cemented the bond with their customers and made them what they are today.

Compare the Netflix story with the stories of hundreds video libraries & parlors that used to provide similar services in almost every neighborhood.

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Comments

  1. Vinay NagarajuMay 2, 2019 at 11:12 PM

    Interesting read. It is quite inspiring how these businesses were early adopters of change and responded swiftly. I wrote a case study on one of the businesses in UK - Hotel Chocolat. Their USP was in providing mail order chocolates, just like offering flowers during special days, they made a very good model on chocolate delivery. They are now one of the best chocolate brands in UK. They make some amazing chocolates :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SumandebrayMay 3, 2019 at 8:53 AM

      Thanks for stopping by @Vinay. Please share the link for the Chocolat post.
      I am planning to write a few post on them who not only survived but triumphed.

      Delete
    2. Vinay NagarajuMay 7, 2019 at 10:55 AM

      It is a shame that my school has not gone through the final publishing bits. I really enjoyed writing the case study and learning about them. I found a couple which might be of interest.:

      https://www.redtechnology.com/downloads/ecommerce-case-study-hotel-chocolat.pdf

      https://www.dacgroup.com/en-gb/work/hotel-chocolat/

      Delete
  2. dee NambiarMay 2, 2019 at 11:43 PM

    There's a lesson for us in the Netflix story.
    I'm looking forward to the next few posts on the topic. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SumandebrayMay 3, 2019 at 8:56 AM

      Many thanks for stopping and sharing your thoughts. I will surely come back with the subsequent episodes. Please make it a point to come back.

      Delete

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