PAVLO’S PERSPECTIVE: Three actions to embrace the digital on-demand economy for every business
by Pavlo Phitidis,
2015-05-26 09:03:20.0
PAVLO’S PERSPECTIVE: Three actions to embrace the digital on-demand economy for every business
WITH more than R130bn invested in start-up financial technology business in the US, UK and Israel last year, banks beware. The on-demand economy, expressed mainly through digital applications — available on mobile devices from phones, bracelets, glasses and clothes — is going to grow.
To safeguard tomorrow, act now to lead it before it leads you. Its thrust is driven in consumer-facing services and is exemplified best by services like Uber and AirBnB. The ability to have what you want, when you want it, how you want it defines on-demand.
Having all that and at prices you never had before defines value. Positioning your business to win in the on-demand value economy makes you a market-maker, a status achieved by Uber which has a market value of R200bn in its sixth year.
Reshaping and reinventing a business in any industry facing such an assault is no mean feat. Established policies, procedures and systems compounded by institutionalised thinking and management styles inculcated into an organisational design are instruments a captain needs to manage consistent performance in a megaship. And shareholders want a steady course.
Having served business well in the past, these features hinder its ability to respond to this competitive threat. The time of the entrepreneurial banker has never been more exciting.
At Standard Bank, joint-CEO Sim Tshabalala has a plan. Its blueprint is useful for any organisation facing the cannibalisation of its market in this new economy.
Reinvention and revisioning through cultural reshaping has been the starting point. Creating the changes from within the bank has been, and remains, a primary focus.
Service businesses are about people and the way people think translates into the way they act. Shifting thinking is a gruelling process. Change means uncertainty and that uncertainty sees resistance.
Leading the adoption of a new vision is the vital first act. Refining the focus away from products to customers is the next act. The value on-demand economy succeeds when services mirror desired customer experiences.
Three actions are needed here. Internally, where employee entrepreneurs make it happen. Externally, through the selection of service providers and acquisitions. Be first to spot and recognise small, smart, free thinking start-ups and early-stage business.
FireID’s product SnapScan, the payment system turning a phone into a wallet that allows for micropayments to take place effortlessly and simply, has set the standard.
Its outcome is taking shape but only because of two consistent actions.
In the first instance, the rethinking and rebuilding of the architecture and underlying technical platform has taken sacrifice and patience. A payments system that is versatile and capable of accommodating a variety of payment experiences requires this. Second, adoption of the application is critical.
Ralph Waldo Emmerson said if you build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door. This product-centric view of the world is no longer valid.
Should SA want to avoid colonisation by global applications, the government, universities and business need to collaborate fast. Engineers are the "workers" of this new economy. Buy them, build them, get them fast or we will be reduced to a consumptive economy with little value to add in the global digital revolution.
• Phitidis is CEO of Aurik Business Incubator, director of Aurik Enterprise & Supplier Development, entrepreneurship commentator on Talk Radio 702 & 567 Cape Talk and presenter of The Growth Engines.
Pavlo Phitidis. Picture: SUPPLIED
WITH more than R130bn invested in start-up financial technology business in the US, UK and Israel last year, banks beware. The on-demand economy, expressed mainly through digital applications — available on mobile devices from phones, bracelets, glasses and clothes — is going to grow.
To safeguard tomorrow, act now to lead it before it leads you. Its thrust is driven in consumer-facing services and is exemplified best by services like Uber and AirBnB. The ability to have what you want, when you want it, how you want it defines on-demand.
Having all that and at prices you never had before defines value. Positioning your business to win in the on-demand value economy makes you a market-maker, a status achieved by Uber which has a market value of R200bn in its sixth year.
Reshaping and reinventing a business in any industry facing such an assault is no mean feat. Established policies, procedures and systems compounded by institutionalised thinking and management styles inculcated into an organisational design are instruments a captain needs to manage consistent performance in a megaship. And shareholders want a steady course.
Having served business well in the past, these features hinder its ability to respond to this competitive threat. The time of the entrepreneurial banker has never been more exciting.
At Standard Bank, joint-CEO Sim Tshabalala has a plan. Its blueprint is useful for any organisation facing the cannibalisation of its market in this new economy.
Reinvention and revisioning through cultural reshaping has been the starting point. Creating the changes from within the bank has been, and remains, a primary focus.
Service businesses are about people and the way people think translates into the way they act. Shifting thinking is a gruelling process. Change means uncertainty and that uncertainty sees resistance.
Leading the adoption of a new vision is the vital first act. Refining the focus away from products to customers is the next act. The value on-demand economy succeeds when services mirror desired customer experiences.
Three actions are needed here. Internally, where employee entrepreneurs make it happen. Externally, through the selection of service providers and acquisitions. Be first to spot and recognise small, smart, free thinking start-ups and early-stage business.
FireID’s product SnapScan, the payment system turning a phone into a wallet that allows for micropayments to take place effortlessly and simply, has set the standard.
Its outcome is taking shape but only because of two consistent actions.
In the first instance, the rethinking and rebuilding of the architecture and underlying technical platform has taken sacrifice and patience. A payments system that is versatile and capable of accommodating a variety of payment experiences requires this. Second, adoption of the application is critical.
Ralph Waldo Emmerson said if you build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door. This product-centric view of the world is no longer valid.
Should SA want to avoid colonisation by global applications, the government, universities and business need to collaborate fast. Engineers are the "workers" of this new economy. Buy them, build them, get them fast or we will be reduced to a consumptive economy with little value to add in the global digital revolution.
• Phitidis is CEO of Aurik Business Incubator, director of Aurik Enterprise & Supplier Development, entrepreneurship commentator on Talk Radio 702 & 567 Cape Talk and presenter of The Growth Engines.
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