Everyone's heard of how Amazon upended retail, how Uber redefined urban transportation, how WeWork disrupted the real estate and remote working industries, and how Airbnb shook up the hotel industry. You might think a company has to be a giant tech unicorn in order to disrupt industries but that's not the rule. Disruption often comes from smaller companies who may not get as much media coverage as the big companies but their one idea changes the entire industry.
What is disruption?
Disruption, or what is known as 'disruptive innovation' was first mentioned in the Harvard Business Review in 1995. The HBR defined it as "a process whereby a smaller company with fewer resources is able to successfully challenge established incumbent businesses." That means smaller players have just as good a chance at disrupting their industries whether it's computing, technology, furniture and printing.
StickerYou (printing)
Whenever you wanted to order custom labels or custom stickers, you'd have to order in bulk because traditional printers only allowed for large run printing. That's because it was cheaper than small batch, customized printing. That means you would end up with hundreds or thousands of unwanted labels or stickers languishing in your supply room, on the desks of your employees or in company goodie bags. StickerYou offers small batch, customized printing in any size, any shape or any quantity for a reasonable price. The company lets you print one sticker of any size if that's what you want. Sounds quaint until you realize the global label industry is upwards of $71 billion annually. Stickers and labels are big business and the ability to customize and order the exact number not only satisfies customers' budgets but develops loyalty, return business and referrals.
Pivot (furniture)
The future of ownership is renting. Renting clothes is a billion-dollar business. Rent the Runway is valued at $1 billion with people opting to spend $159 per monthly for a subscription that lets them rent clothing for all events. Furniture isn't far behind. Saskatoon's Pivot Furniture has a subscription model where you can rent furniture. Once you're tired of your current living room, you can exchange it for new furniture. The old furniture is refurbished for the next renter. It's sustainable and satisfies the need to rearrange your home on a semi-regular basis.
Wattpad (publishing)
Trying to publish a book is a tiresome task. First you have to sell the book idea, then find an agent who will market your book to get the best deal for you. Then you hope that readers have been made away of your book and buy it. That takes time and money. Wattpad cuts out the middleman and puts the power of publishing in the hands of the author, and the power of review in the hands of the audience. It isn't sitting on its laurels. It decided to leverage the vast repository of original content on its platform into original shows through Wattpad Studios including signing a first-look deal to bring content to Brazil. And yes, you can still read your favourite fanfics on the platform.
Questrade (finance and investing)
There's nothing more frustrating than making a trade or stock purchase and having to pay anything from $4.99 to $30 in fees per transaction. That's because traditional financial institutions charge fees depending on how much money you have in your account. (The more you have, the less you pay in fees.)
If you go through a broker, there are fees as well. It was an industry primed for disruption. Enter Questrade. Edward Kholodenko and three partners founded the company in 1999 so self-directed traders could have a low-cost alternative for investing. Two decades later, it's hard to see how Questrade disrupted the Canadian investment industry but it broke the mould by allowing people to self-direct their investments for drastically reduced fees.
Often it's a small idea like low fees, renting furniture or offering small batch sticker and label printing options. That idea is adopted by customers, who gravitate to the companies. Soon, the idea is adopted across the industry and becomes normalized. Size isn't everything when it comes to disrupting an industry, trying (and sometimes failing) an idea is more important.
