Sometimes the best way to create new opportunities for yourself or for your business is to look outside your industry.
When you are stuck for ideas, look to other industries for inspiration. When you see another company apply a great innovation or technique to their business ask yourself, “How can I apply this to my business?”
It can lead to incredible results.
On a recent to trip to Dallas to meet the top-level executives of direct sales company EvolvHealth I came across an excellent example of applying this way of thinking.
Apple doesn’t have the lock on smart phone apps. Many competitors are scrambling to open the apps market for their smart phones. This is classic industry-to-industry competition.
However, in the network marketing world “apps” have existed for years in the form of business support materials such as books, branded wearables, and training tapes or support tools for business builders.
Traditionally the ability to develop and offer these tools for profit has been almost exclusively in the hands of the higher pin rank distributors. Many have complained these tools are the primary source of revenue for these top producing millionaire distributors. See Brig & Lita Hart vs. Amway et al.
It’s a common “shadow business” within the direct selling industry and often leads to chaos amongst the company because the training is not consistent between tools stores.
In a bold move, the Founder, CEO and the team at EvolvHealth saw the inherent problems created by this shadow market and decided to create an app store leveling the playing field for all distributors – offering no monopolies to one or two high earners.
Evolv’s move to allow all distributors to become app developers and to participate in the tools business is an excellent example of tweaking a business by bringing in creative concepts from unrelated industries. These guys are not trying to reinvent the networking industry they’re just taking what they see as inherently wrong and correcting it — with ideas from outside the industry.
It’s network marketing with a strategic twist. The Evolv execs recognized a flaw in their industry and with a smart move took inspiration from outside their industry.
You can you make your company better than your competition by taking inspiration from companies outside your industry. By applying ideas that have never been paired before. By combining what you know today with strategies and innovations from other industries.
You may be in for some nice surprises. Pique your interest? Let us know by leaving a comment. Or, share this post with your team members below.
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