Big Picture - August 2019 - 14

business + management

Disruptive Tech,
Tough Decisions
Our industry is no stranger to market-changing advances in technology.
How does your shop adapt? | by Marty McGhie

BIG PICTURE

August 2019

nnovation and humanity are inextricably linked. We
humans are always looking for ways to do things better,
faster, simpler. Our passion for reinvention prevents many
industries - including signage and graphics - from
reaching a state of stagnation.
More than 20 years ago, Harvard business professor
Clayton Christensen wrote a book called The Innovator's
Dilemma - When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail.
As you might have guessed, its primary focus is how highly
successful companies end up failing when they don't embrace
changes that occur with disruptive technologies. And vice
versa, how companies that have the foresight to identify,
embrace, and develop their business with these disruptive
technologies in mind become successful.
The examples Christensen cites include the downward
spiral of companies like Sears and Woolworth and their loss of
business to discount stores like Kmart and Target. He also
discusses the dramatic changes in IBM's dominance in
mainframe computers, their subsequent loss of significant
market share in the minicomputer business, and their ability to
gain back market share in the personal computer sector by a
shift in philosophy and strategy. Even though the book is more
than two decades old, the material is informative and the
subject matter is still quite relevant.
Several years ago, my business partners had the opportunity to attend a lecture Christensen gave on this subject.
Although I was unable to attend, the ideas he shared quickly
became a topic of significant importance to us; we discussed
the ideas put forth in his book and what they might mean to
the future of our business. We concluded the disruptive
technology in the signage and graphics market would likely be

MAKING THE MOVE TO ONLINE
Fast forward to 2011. Perhaps similar to your operation, many
changes had occurred within our shop, Ferrari Color - some
due to internal factors within our control, others due to
external factors outside of our control. While sparing you the
details, suffice it to say we were able to continue growing our
business at a steady, though not spectacular, rate with some
years of profitability and some years of financial struggle.
Because Ferrari Color has focused significantly on retail
graphics, the most recent years have been much more difficult
to sustain any kind of growth or profitability.

MARTY MCGHIE is CEO/partner of Signs.com, an online provider of
custom signage based in Salt Lake City. You can find him on Twitter
@Marty_McGhie.

oriented around making our customers' buying experience
easier - likely based on some sort of an e-commerce platform.
At the time, there was very little e-commerce activity in
our industry. However, it seemed likely this would change. I
wish I could tell you we had the foresight back then to be
forward thinking and embrace the disruptive technologies that
would eventually begin to enter our market, but we did not.
We discussed the idea, but focused completely on growing
and operating our core business.

http://www.Signs.com https://www.twitter.com/Marty_McGhie

Big Picture - August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - August 2019