The Freight Train of Change
The phrase “retail apocalypse” has become so ingrained in our culture, that it now has its own Wikipedia entry.
The closing of massive numbers of North American brick-and-mortar retail stores and the darkening of shopping malls from Orillia, Ontario to Orange County and everywhere in between, have widespread implications for anyone in business. When this video essay was originally posted in October of 2017, Sears Canada was in the process of shutting down all of its remaining stores, putting near 12,000 people out of work. In March of 2018, U.S. operations at Toys “R” Us came to an end with 735 locations closing the doors. Before this year is out, expect more lumbering corporate dinosaurs to meet a similar fate.
Meanwhile, a Seattle-based company that sold its first book in July of 1995, is on pace to soon join Apple as the world’s only other trillion-dollar company. Jeff Bezos and Amazon love the smell of disruption in the morning.
Are you paying rapt attention to how this snarling beast of an online locomotive is driving the freight train of change?
Amazon is still firing on all cylinders with shares up nearly 65% in 2018. Some analysts predict Amazon sales will surge to a whopping $265 billion this year, an increase of 32%. The implications of the ubiquitous “Amazon Effect” are both staggering and inescapable. As 2018 continues to be a sobering year for corporate giants long overdue for a swift kick in the strategy ass, there is no reason why you need to let it happen to you.
But, you need to be listening closely for the steam whistle of opportunity.
Let’s ride the rails together and explore possibilities on board The Freight Train of Change as it powers through The Reinvention Chronicles.
“You have to lean into the headwinds of change and figure out what to do. Complaining isn’t a strategy” JEFF BEZOS, Founder/CEO, Amazon.comp.s… In August of 1994, Jeff Bezos and wife Mackenzie started Amazon out of the garage of their Seattle home with one employee and two desks built out of re-furbished doors from Home Depot. The original name of the company was Cadabra Inc., because Bezos wanted to create something magical. The legendary architect of this e-commerce juggernaut has since become the first person with a net worth surpassing $150 billion in the 3 decades since Forbes started tracking the richest Americans. And there is no end in sight. Health care may be the next big market his company disrupts, following the $1 Billion-dollar acquisition of online pharmacy PillPack.
Bezos built this empire by employing business fundamentals that continue to expand consumer choice and convenience while delivering extraordinary value. The fundamentals developed by Bezos are worth paying attention to since no one today is turning to Blockbuster or Blackberry for business advice.
Instead, you might want to examine visionaries like Bezos and in the book, Be Like Amazon: Even a Lemonade Stand Can Do It, the authors have constructed a framework for your business to do just that. In other words, how could you set the standard and raise the bar in your own category in much the same way as Amazon? In this interview, co-author Bryan Eisenberg sits down with Ryan Deiss and explains the 4 Pillars of Amazon and how they can spell success for you.
Planning a Speaking Event?
As the wheels of business turn faster each quarter, your company or industry association may be making plans to stay ahead of the über-fast relevance curve. In that spirit, we are now booking events for 2019 with organizations eager to dramatically rock their next conference with keynotes and workshops that inspire audiences to achieve a new level of “STADIUM-SIZED PERSPECTIVE”. For booking inquiries, please contact us.
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Other Resources for You to Explore:
Purchase the critically-acclaimed, NUTS, BOLTS AND A FEW LOOSE SCREWS. Available at Chapters.ca and Amazon.com.
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"Everything you can imagine is real" PABLO PICASSO