One of the many things that has happened to the business world in these mobile times is re-invention of businesses. Many companies playing in the old and defined industries have found themselves having to come up for air, they have found a need to try to move quickly outside what can be considered to be their stronghold.
I have observed Nigerian banks like GTBank, Diamond bank and First bank move into retailing, media, entertainment and more. We have seen telcos like Airtel, MTN and others launching various orisirisi apps furiously just in a bid to find the next big thing like Safaricom did with mPesa in Kenya. Airtel even went a step further by arranging a competition to find great app ideas and then went on to acquire the apps (and the creator’s team) and then relaunch under their own brand. (Don’t you just love this strategy??)
I have known for a long time that all the old rules of business are now dead.
New blood like you and I just setting out on this journey must learn how to hold our own. We have to re-think our business and adapt it in a way that we render all these incumbents irrelevant. Times have changed and so must we all.
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Watching The World
- Here is FirstBank’s Loop App. (A really good looking news reader that is definitely not related to banking.)
- Jovago now lets you book hotels in Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa.
