We don't yet live in a "Jetsons" world, but the speed of business is accelerating every day. As of 2017, that length of time is just three years. But what does this mean for your business? You must be able to adapt quickly to take advantage of changing consumer preferences, technological disruptions and new ways of reaching your customers. Everything is handled by a company called Seed Beauty, which specializes in getting products developed, produced and to market very quickly. Today, you can access companies around the world that provide services ranging from development to production to logistics. Kylie Cosmetics delegates most decisions to its partners. Depending on the stage of your business, it might not be possible to stay quite as lean as Kylie Cosmetics. In every case, she is always engaged with her potential customers. And if you're able to stay agile, lean and engaged with your customers, then your business can benefit in precisely the same way.
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At 21-years-old, Kylie Jenner has lived more than half her life on reality TV as part of the Kardashian family. For many people, that makes Jenner easy to scoff at.
However, Jenner is very close to becoming the youngest billionaire in history to have built her fortune without an inheritance. And she’s done it in a way that illustrates two critically important lessons about business in the digital age. So whether you love her or hate her, if you’re an entrepreneur, you should pay attention, because these lessons extend far beyond cosmetic or celebrity businesses.
Business is speeding up.
We don’t yet live in a “Jetsons” world, but the speed of business is accelerating every day. One of the easiest ways to see this acceleration is by looking at product lifecycles. A lifecyle is basically the length of time between the first sale of a product and the last sale (or obsolescence) of that product.
For example, in the 1970s and 1980s, companies would sell each model of a car for about 10 years before replacing it with an upgraded version. As of 2017, that length of time is just three years. In other words, Volkswagen is releasing a new model of the Golf every three years now, rather than every 10. And it’s only getting faster.
Zara is another well-known instance of this trend. Zara has been successful largely because it is able to bring new fashion products to market more quickly than their competitors. And in the tech world, the lifecycle of mobile applications is now measured in days, rather than years, months or even weeks.
But what does this mean for your business? And more interestingly, what can you learn from Kylie Cosmetics?
Lesson 1: Agility is paramount.
In a world where the pace of change is accelerating, the most important skill you can develop, as both an entrepreneur and as an individual, is agility.
You can no longer rely on brand recognition, or your past success or even your ability to predict trends. You must be able to adapt quickly to take advantage of changing consumer preferences, technological disruptions and new ways of reaching your customers.
Kylie Cosmetics is a great example of how to be more agile even as a new or small company. Despite grossing hundreds of millions of dollars per year, Kylie Cosmetics has only a handful of employees. And yet, the company…
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