If you have a hotel in a desirable location, do you care about AirBNB rentals in your area? If you have a market or a chain of markets, what do you think about Amazon fresh? I didn’t go to the mall to get some summer shorts, I ordered them from Zappos. It wasn’t so long ago that a good friend whose business was servicing fax machines was doing really well. He’s in another business now.
When I facilitate strategic planning meetings for small to mid-size companies, one of the questions we always explore is: what could put you out of business? Usually, I hear earthquake, war, currency devaluation, inflation, changes in the law… all things to worry about.
The new entrants in the market that derive from technology and changing culture are driving out old models at a faster and faster rate. They have no respect for how it has always been done. In fact, it delights them to find a new way, or even a more desirable way to achieve the same result. It requires new thinking to compete with them.
A friend who will not be named has been hosting AirBNB guests for the last year and is booked through November. If you were a hotel in his neighborhood, you should be very afraid. Many cities are challenging AirBNB, and the people who don’t have a business license, don’t pay city taxes, aren’t held to the same rules, and might not even be declaring the income on their tax returns. (Just guessing).
The new entrants are strong and they are growing. Next strategic planning session, how about trying to develop the innovative new model that will cannibalize your old ways, and start working on it immediately. If you don’t and even if you do, someone else is working on this, probably somewhere in your neighborhood.