Game-changers and transformers

By Jun Miranda

Since man learned how to make use of the wheel, there were a succession of game-changing ideas and people that altered the course of history, for better or for worse. 

In this piece, we'll take a look at these "game-changers" who lived throughout history and their significant contribution to the transformation of our civilization since the invention of the wheel up to the present AI era.

These game-changers, says Will Kenton in his recent work Game-Changer: Definition and Examples in Business, are those people who bring the force of their vision, will, and personality to bear on the sometimes unique, sometimes mundane ideas that can alter the ways in which we live.

To cite a few, he mentioned Johannes Gutenberg and the printing press, Thomas Edison and the electric light, Andrew Fleming and the antibiotic penicillin, or Alan Turing and the first modern computer.

Kenton added that game-changers compare what's possible to what's currently being done. They spur a shift in the status quo. The changes they pursue may be radical and difficult for others to understand.  They drive change different from what other people usually think and operate. 

He said that a game-changer is someone or something that can spark new concepts, inspire the desire for—and acceptance of—change, and create the change itself.

Game-changers are men and women who dared to blaze new trails where no paths have existed before.

Take for instance the amazing exploits of the likes of Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer who first circumnavigated the world during the 16th century. In those days, many people thought that the world was flat and they even laughed at anyone who said that it was round.  

For some, it was going straight to the gallows for believing and saying that it was so.

In our time, we have the likes of Steve Wozniak and his namesake Steve Jobs who were probably laughed at too for saying that they could put music, movies, libraries and countless other stuff into those tiny phones in our pockets.  

Both of them had the vision to believe that they can transform the handy phone into something else, and the rest is history. 

Let us not forget the bulky telephone set Alexander Graham Bell had envisioned and created over a hundred years ago. It required millions of miles of wire to function. 

Now here comes Elon Musk. He's telling us that all these wires will now be obsolete and replaced by  suspended satellites in space to send voice and data signals through the ether above us.

In other words, what he's saying is that we can call each other, watch movies and do many other things out of thin air. 

Welcome to the fascinating world of game-changers and transformers. 

How the world's three great men of business changed the way we live

By Jun Miranda

Among business icons in recent times that I admire the most, Steve Jobs, Jeff Besos and Elon Musk are on top of my list.

Without an inch of doubt, I believe that these great souls changed the way we live in a tremendous way. They opened new paths where no man has dared to tread before.

Steve Jobs showed us how to put all the world’s depository of information and entertainment in our pockets;

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Besos, taught us how, with just a tap of our finger, we can almost have anything we want and need from around the planet and;

Elon Musk, made it possible for us to go from point A to B by simply plugging our cars in electric outlets.

In doing so, he is now the richest man on earth.

Once in a great while, men of their caliber visit us to show that the only limit to our imagination is our inability to see the possible in the impossible.

Except for Steve Jobs who left us before he can fully explore his potential, Jeff and Elon moved on to set their sights further on new frontiers.

Now, their eyes are looking up there in outer space and Mars. (Photo credits: Wikipedia, Forbes, DW) 

19-year old entrepreneur revealed the secrets of billion dollar underground sneaker market.

Brandon Webb has made a living by taking advantage of America's obsession with kicks. The Los Angeles-based 19 year old  is the founder of Hypluxe, a members-only community that teaches sales secrets of the massive secondary market for limited-edition sneakers.

Webb says he works with a team of experts to secure and re-sell shoes for mindboggling prices. As Webb explained to Entrepreneur, "In 2018 Nike released one of the most coveted sneakers to date, the Off-White Air Jordan 1 ‘White’, for just $190. Today, it will cost you upwards of $3,000 on the resale market to get your hands on a single pair." READ MORE 

 Photo credit: Entrepreneur Philippines

5 ways to avoid the road to catastrophe when marketing to millenials.  They can be a fickle group to market to, the millenials. While many companies manage admirably to market to this age group, others try to pry open millennial wallets -- and fail catastrophically.

Include McDonald’s in the latter group. The fast food giant's “Create Your Taste” campaign failed when the company decided that young people would jump at the opportunity to create their own sandwiches online.

That assumption was oh, so wrong, and the result was that many millennials lambasted the very notion of sharing their failed creations with their friends.

With this failure in mind, let’s take a look at the channels available to sellers to avoid the road to costly marketing catastrophes. READ MORE

How to keep your Millenials and Gen Z employees productive.  It’s quite unfortunate that both Millennials and Gen Z’s are being stereotyped as entitled, lazy and self-centered individuals—or at least that’s what we are all led to believe.

But the question is, are they really that different from the previous generations?

According to analyst Amanda Kreun, it’s misleading to think that these two younger generations are different from the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. Her report detailed that the characteristics of millennials you read about are the result of behavior common among young employees entering the workforce.

She said that young people today tend to see themselves and their work environments in a similar way as did young people from previous generations did.

Likewise, numerous studies have been cited by corporate HR advisor and KPMG partner Bruce Pfau in his article in Harvard Business Review.  He said that “a growing body of evidence suggests that employees of all ages are much more alike than different in their attitudes and values at work.” READ MORE.

 Photo credit: Entrepreneur

5 reasons to buy a successful business instead starting a new one from scratch. Are you considering starting a new business? Maybe this is your first or maybe you're a serial entrepreneur with a few successful businesses under your belt and your next brilliant idea just hit. You’ve got your ducks in a row, business plan mapped out, motivation at an all-time high, and you’re ready to go full speed ahead. But...maybe you shouldn’t.

The harsh reality is, most new businesses fail. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, 50% fail in their fifth year, and 70% fail by their 10th year.

 
Eliminating some of the unknowns when buying an established business instead of starting from scratch gives you better chances of succeeding.  Here are 5 good reasons. READ MORE

Why is the new one-person corporation a game-changer in Philippine business? The concept of a one-person corporation or OPC, along with the other provisions of the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines, makes doing business in the country easier, says SEC Chairperson Emilio Aquino.

The newly-passed measure offers the agility and complete dominion of a sole proprietorship and the limited liability of a corporation and it lightens the business registration process, especially for small firms. It is interesting to note that at last, it updates the Corporation Code that was untouched for almost 40 years.

Before registering as an OPC though, there are certain guidelines that one must first comply with. READ MORE

Is franchising for you when expanding your business? Answer these 6 questions first. If you are content with the current branches you have or will add only one or two more branches, then no need to consider  franchising. You can stop reading this. But, if you want to add 10 or 20 branches more, READ MORE

  

Starting a new business?  Or selling an existing one?  When you do, get in touch with us. We might be able to help you find the right type of business that you can operate right away -- instead of going through the costly and long process of building a new one from scratch.

We maintain and publish a list of buyers and sellers of businesses so you can have access to fresh leads on existing businesses for sale or potential buyers for your business.  

This way, we can start right away the process of getting you into the “pilot seat” of a new business venture or help you facilitate in closing a deal with a ready buyer.

So you need not go through the hassles of starting a business from scratch or risk under-pricing the real market value of your business when you are selling.

Meanwhile, if you are not ready at this time to buy a business or sell an existing one but you know of some people who do, just refer them to us and be entitled to referral fees for businesses sold or bought through you. 

For more helpful tips and ideas on how to easily find the type of business you want to own or the right buyer for the business you'd like to sell, get in touch with us c/o Jun Miranda, Publisher/Editor, at tradesecrets@yahoo.com.

 

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