Disruptive Technologies and the Price of Parking
2017 looks like it will be a year of fresh challenges to businesses and individuals in the UK. Our Prime Minister will shortly begin the process of withdrawal from the EU. This will cause her to earn some new spurs for her trademark shoes or alternatively require a falling on her sword.
The impact on the exchange rate is already being felt with the cost of imports rising, together with overseas holiday prices and the rate per litre of fuel on the garage forecourt forever upwards. But what else is coming along to challenge us?
Next year will be the start of HM Revenue & Customs’ ‘Making Tax Digital’ project. Preparing for this requires thought now, not later. This will affect all businesses and a lot of private landlords.
There are challenges to overcome plus lots of opportunities to take advantage of. How well do we cope with change?
One of the greatest challenges we all face is the space between our ears. If we are in business how open are we to new ideas and thinking? Yes, sometimes the old ways are the better ways but often they are not. Disruptive technologies make old ways redundant and we need to be wary of just hoping we can ignore them. Sometimes it’s down to fear or our own desire to sort things ourselves. The lady (or man!) is not for turning perhaps.
On Saturday evening I found myself next to a man trying to pay for parking in a local supermarket; he had no change. It was cold and dark and he was accompanied by a child in a buggy. The parking machine, whilst new, was not card enabled. I offered to pay for his parking (60p) but he politely refused and walked to the cash machine instead (100m), drew out some notes and then went in search of customer services (50m) to obtain some change and go back to the parking ticket machine……must have taken him at least 10 minutes.
What is it that makes us do the hard thing rather than accept or ask for help?
In a book which I have enjoyed reading recently, Psycho-Cybernetics (Maxwell Maltz), we see lots of examples of how we as humans build barriers for ourselves which can really hold back our success in life as well as business.
This year will see the need for radical thinking and maybe a willingness to do things a little differently.
Our Accelerator Club sessions will be looking at how we can do this in the business context – our list of dates can be accessed here – and they are totally free; all you have to do is attend.
Are you up for the challenge?