Here’s how traditional businesses were carried out for generations:
- The manufacturers wanted to be sure about the orders their distributors will place in the coming year so they will impose strong terms;
- The distributors wanted to be sure about the assured sales so they will ask their dealers to agree on the dealership deposits;
- The dealers wanted to be sure about the advance payments that will get from the customers;
- It was the customer who could not remain certain whether she will get the appropriate product until the product is installed … it is an uncertainty that they can’t do much about.
But now the time has changed. The hyper-connected world has given the never-before power in the customer’s hands.
It is possible to do research not only the product you want to buy but everyone involved in the supply chain along with their business practices, their successes, and failures without leaving your bedroom!
Today is the age of hyper-connectivity and traditional ways based on certainty are becoming least effective day by day.
That is the reason, rather than MBAs, MBA Dropouts are able to generate profitable businesses! (Ok, it’s just a figure of speech but the point is made.)
The design of the hyper-connected world works like this: The customer enjoys the most power … and can enjoy as much certainty as he can, not anyone else no matter if they are the dealer, distributor or the manufacturer.
Manufacturing in this hyper-connected world is not difficult, it has become different, and a lot of other aspects have come into the picture. The News of bad quality results travels faster than ever. So does the news of successes and happiness that the products or the experiences would have provided!
Today, it is not about whether you have a choice to have certainty in business. It is about the kind of uncertainty you choose to indulge in.
The whole supply chain could work effectively if it is part of an ecosystem that is relevant to the target market it serves or intends to serve … not otherwise.
How to know if you are part of an ecosystem that is relevant to the target market?
By testing every experience and gathering quantifiable data … and base your decision on data and nothing but data.
The emotions of everyone involved in the whole supply chain, as it turns out, is a data point that can be quantified and transformed into creating a win-win scenario.
Openness, not the stubbornness, is celebrated by the hyper-connected economy and openness means the willingness to embrace uncertainty for the greater good.
