The Disrupter’s Playbook — A Guide to Ground Shaking Success

The hyper-competitive business world is a constantly evolving terrain, with new players vying for dominance in every industry. Yet, some have managed to completely break through the noise, disrupt their respective fields, and leave their competitors scrambling to keep up.

From taking calculated risks and embracing change, to constantly innovating and staying ahead of the curve, we’re sharing the playbook companies have followed to revolutionize their industries and cement their place at the top.

Kash Hasworth, a dynamic leader in sales, entrepreneurship, and culture development discloses The Top 10 Keys to Completely Disrupt Your Industry. These same guiding principles have enabled him to attain disruptive levels of achievement and emerge as a leader in any industry he ventures into.

“I was fortunate enough to have experienced a ton of adversity early on in life. Those turbulent years bred a unique perspective and a relentless hunger to go out and create the life I desired after in-depth conversations with my ultimate Creator.”, Kash noted.

Having led the expansion of a chain of 28 wireless franchise locations spanning four states for a major carrier on the east coast, while retaining the top position for sales volume for almost a decade, and later becoming one of the top 1% earners in the solar industry, his background is a testament to his ability to bring about disruption.

“I’m still learning, pushing boundaries, failing, and developing as a leader myself. Hell, I failed three times before breakfast today”, he joked. “But in all seriousness, information changes situations. And as we experience life, it’s best to document it for others to learn, elevate and disrupt.”

Whether you’re an entrepreneur just starting out or a seasoned executive looking for fresh ideas, the insights and strategies provided in this article will prove invaluable. So sit back, grab your favorite artisanal coffee, and join us as we dive into the world of disruption and innovation. It’s time to take your business to the next level!

Key One: Question everything.

To disrupt your industry, you need to identify the gaps in the market that aren’t being met by your competitors. This not only requires a deep understanding of your customers’ pain points, desires, and behaviors, but it also requires a unique perspective on the traditional way of doing things. Approach every inconvenience or inefficient experience with one question: “what would a disruptive approach to this current solution look like?”

When I started my first online business, my partner and I had one mission: expose incarcerated men and women around the globe to positive people, programs, resources and information in an effort to transform their life. Once we set sail on that mission, we quickly realized we had an obligation to disrupt this space. Every similar platform that facilitated relationships between inmates and free citizens were gouging inmates to publish profiles to their site to attract pen pals by charging them outrageous fees. This was crazy to us, because the inmates already have little to no resources.

Our mission quickly became to relieve the financial strain inmates had been subject to when trying to find support. One morning, just between that state of being asleep and awake, it hit me — “you have to offer these inmate profiles for completely free” – no charge to the inmate whatsoever.

After some creative strategy sessions on other forms of monetization, we mapped out the new model, developed the backend, sent out thousands of brochures to prisons across the nation to promote the free profile listing option, and the results started pouring in. We went from 40 or so profiles since inception, to thousands overnight.

Key Two: Trailblaze away.

Innovation is the driving force behind disruption. If you want to make waves, stay on top of emerging trends and technologies in your industry, and be willing to take risks and experiment.

Sarah Breedlove, also known as Madam C.J. Walker, was an African-American entrepreneur who became the first black self-made female millionaire in America. She is widely recognized for her success due to her pioneering approach to the beauty industry.

At a time when African American women had few options for hair care and beauty products, she recognized an unmet need and innovated her own line of hair care products specifically tailored to the needs of black women. She experimented with different ingredients and formulations until she found the perfect formula, and then went door-to-door selling her products to other women in her community.

But Sarah’s innovative thinking didn’t stop there. She recognized that she could leverage the power of advertising to reach a wider audience and promote her brand. She began advertising in African American newspapers and magazines, and even went on to create her own beauty school to train and employ other African American women.

Her approach to business and marketing not only helped her to build a successful brand but also helped to challenge and break down racial barriers at a time when segregation and discrimination were rampant. Her success inspired other African American women to pursue their own entrepreneurial dreams, and she remains an important symbol of resilience and perseverance to this day.

Key Three: Put the user first.

Creating an exceptional customer experience is key to building loyalty and differentiating yourself from competitors. This means paying attention to every touchpoint with your brand, from initial contact through post-sale support.

Take Airbnb, for example. They’re most known for how they disrupted the hotel industry by offering a platform for people to rent out their homes and apartments to travelers, but what was largely responsible for the rapid success is the user experience. They undoubtedly set out to create one of the most user-friendly and visually appealing platforms on the market, and they succeeded.

Key Four: Make your brand the loudest voice in its space.

 A strong brand identity can help differentiate you from competitors and create loyal customers who will advocate for your business. Invest in branding efforts that communicate what sets you apart.

Every man with a beard has heard or used Dollar Shave Club, and for good reason. They’re a subscription-based razor company that has built a strong brand identity around its humorous and irreverent marketing campaigns. Their ads poke fun at traditional razor brands and emphasize the idea of simplicity and convenience. Dollar Shave Club’s strong brand identity has helped them to become a leader in the razor industry and was acquired by Unilever for $1 billion in 2016, turning those humorous ads into a billion-dollar brand-making machine. That’s good branding, my friend.

Key Five: Leverage your data.

Data analytics tools can provide valuable insights into customer behavior, market trends, and other factors that can inform strategic decisions about product development, marketing campaigns, and more.

Consider Trunk Club — a personal styling service for men that uses insight from the data they’ve collected to curate custom clothing boxes for their customers. They collect data on their customers’ preferences, styles, and sizes to provide a personalized shopping experience. Trunk Club’s use of data leveraging has helped them to become a leader in the men’s styling industry and was acquired by Nordstrom for $350 million in 2014.

Key Six: Foster collaboration.

 Encourage cross-functional collaboration within your organization to drive innovation and creativity in all areas of the business. This can lead to breakthrough ideas that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

Gusto, for example, is an HR software company that has also thrived from internal collaboration. They strongly encourage cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing between different teams, which has led to a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. That very practice has helped them to become a leading force in HR software and payroll services.

Key Seven: Cultivate agility.

Disruptive leaders in their respective spaces are able to pivot quickly in response to changing market conditions or emerging technologies. Cultivate agility by staying nimble and open-minded in the face of uncertainty.

Did you know Slack started out as a gaming company called Tiny Speck? After the failure of their game, they pivoted to focus on internal team communication software. This pivot turned out to be a huge success, and Slack has become a leading provider of team communication software with over 12 million daily active users.

Key Eight: Recruit passionate rockstars.

Hire talented individuals who are passionate about disrupting the status quo and driving innovation within your organization. Provide opportunities for professional growth and development to keep them engaged.

Google and “top talent” are synonymous. They’ve become one of the most successful companies in the world by recruiting and retaining top talent. The company’s hiring process is known to be rigorous, with an intense focus on hiring the smartest and most talented people in the industry. This is evident just by listing their most innovative products and services. Google Search, Gmail, or Google Maps ring a bell?

Key Nine: Join forces.

Seek partnerships with other companies or organizations that can help you achieve your goals more quickly or effectively than going it alone.

Shopify is an e-commerce platform that enables businesses to create online stores and sell products. In 2015, Shopify partnered with Facebook to allow businesses to sell products directly through the social media platform. This partnership helped Shopify to triple its value in just three years, as it enabled the company to reach a wider audience and attract more customers.

Key Ten: Shut up & execute.

Ultimately, disruption is about creating new value for customers that weren’t previously available. In order to achieve that, you have to talk less and do more. Generating great ideas is something that everyone is capable of, but not everyone has the drive to take action. It’s the action-takers who are able to turn their dreams into reality and achieve success.

People often get caught up in discussing their ideas and become so excited about them that they forget the most important step: execution. However, it’s important to remember that failure is a natural part of the process. While it may be discouraging at first, successful individuals have experienced plenty of failures along the way and have learned to embrace them as opportunities for growth.

Failure should be seen as an indication that adjustments need to be made, rather than a reason to give up on your goals altogether. By failing often and making quick adjustments, you can accelerate your path toward achieving disruptive levels of success.

In conclusion

To sum up, achieving industry disruption necessitates a blend of inventive thinking, strategic planning, and focused execution. By adhering to the Top 10 Keys to Completely Disrupt Your Industry that Kash shares, you can pave the way for a triumphant journey and stay at the forefront of the competition. Keep in mind that disruption is not just about introducing novel ideas; it’s about challenging the conventional wisdom, comprehending your customers’ needs, and producing value in unconventional ways. Therefore, be daring, and imaginative, and embrace risk-taking. By doing so, you can revolutionize your sector and create a long-lasting impact on your business. We hope this post has been informative and encouraging, and we wish you the best of luck as you embark on your journey to disrupt your industry!