The current pace of new technology-led change has left classic economy companies vulnerable, but disruption is also a huge borderless opportunity in a world where ultrafast digital connectivity and the information superhighway has democratized innovation.

We have a choice. We can view Airbnb as strangling the hotel industry or see it as helping the hospitality business to reinvent itself. I believe the latter and am passionate about empowering businesses to think similarly in order to futureproof, grow, and thrive.

In 30 years of set-up and growing business lines in global banks, financial markets, consulting & services firms, I was always an intrapreneur : breaking silos, stopping product selling and creating outside-in focus to recognise the biggest driver of innovation: Customer Need.

At my last role in a big bank hit by fintech disruption, it rang loud and clear that ‘Disruptors sell what the customers want’ and relegate incumbents to sell what they don’t. For example, Airbnb rode the sharing economy to offer flexibility, choice and endless locations compared to soulless hotel rooms at double the price, mostly in cities and towns. Netflix offered on-demand entertainment with no late fees that Blockbuster so notoriously did. The examples are endless.

Digital disruption is affecting SMEs too. This is a problem because, in most countries, it is not large firms but SMEs (SMBs in USA) that power economies & employment. The impact of digital disruption to SMEs became evident to me when my hometown’s social enterprise shop, selling art and crafts sourced from local craftsmen, shut down. ‘Showrooming,’ where people go into shops to browse and then buy cheaper online, had arrived locally, and it affected several families in my hometown.

I have always mentored local SME entrepreneurs as part of my giving back but this made me want to make a wider & meaningful impact. It was becoming clear to me that

• Existing companies needed to transform from brick-and-mortar to click-and-mortar in order to think like digital natives and competitively respond to (digital) disruption – but existing coaching & training is grossly inadequate.
• New economy leaders regularly use business model innovations to commercialise, grow and sustain revenue models but most founders of startups, & new businesses ignore the ‘business of innovation’ and tend to focus on the next big tech thing, product or service.

Businesses, esp. SMEs have to learn to recognize the role of business model innovation. Digital Disruption doesn’t have to mean digital doom; it’s just time to evolve.

A computer science engineer and MBA, has spent over 30 years globally in diverse sectors of banking, financial markets, strategy, fintech and change consulting.

This has enabled him to see businesses with a 360-degree view – embracing income, growth, costs, systems, operations and people. As a big-picture person, he continually questions the status quo and helps his clients discover new ways to enhance customer value.

In this era of far-reaching and rapid technical innovation, he realises the need for SMEs to understand the impact of these changes and the need to respond. In 2017, he left the corporate environment to help SMEs understand and adapt to the new digital borderless marketplace. Sandeep combines business expertise with innovation frameworks & creative mentoring techniques to help ambitious businesses, owners and entrepreneurs create, grow and future-proof businesses.