Your customers are bored. Be a game-changer.

Every industry has a standard way to conducting business. This “doctrine or code of beliefs” is rarely challenged. Industry dogma most often wins out boldly shouting “Don’t change! This is the way we’ve always done it!”

Revolutionary businesses go against the grain. They break the rules. They challenge the comfort of dogma, resist conforming, highlight its flaws and forge a new path. Apple is a perfect example of this type of disruptive innovation. Technology has always been seen as a soulless medium for which information is transferred. Apple came along and challenged that standard by personalizing technology and appealing to consumers on an emotional level. Consider the iPod. This was not the first of its kind on the market. So, why was Apple so successful? More than taking good technology and wrapping it in a flashy design, they took good technology and wrapped it in a good business model providing game-changing convenience to the consumer.

In every industry or business, no matter how great or small, there are ceilings to break. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking there are no more innovations to be had. Within our four walls, there are ways to challenge the standard. Simply repackaging or renaming existing products and services in a new way can draw attention away from your competitors. Adding a twist to a standard massage or drain cleaning can re-invigorate new and old customers. Innovation is not creativity for creativity’s sake. It’s taking what’s already proven and doing it extremely well.

Breaking the rules of tradition can be very personally rewarding. Don’t we all get a little bored doing the same thing every day in the same exact way? Why do we feel like we need to do it just like everyone else? Because we think that’s what our customers want? Perhaps our customers are bored, too.