Most Popular Failure Stories and Lessons to Learn – 1

You remember last week, we said to make peace with failure. This week, let's go a little further on the subject and touch on the failed businesses around the world and the lessons we can take, with the comments of the famous author Dave Copeland.

Toys”R”Us Late in Digital Transformation

You have heard dozens of cases about the fact that the remaining retail companies in the last ten years have failed in using digital technologies, activating e-commerce, giving importance to social media and creating opportunity for their competitors. By this twist of fate, Toys”R”Us also met and their losses were huge.

The main reasons for this are its failure to use advanced structures to follow and understand the movements of its customers in the digital world, and its failure to develop store concepts that will offer a new generation customer experience area. On top of that, the fact that the online/offline game industry did not evolve in its stores and online world to adapt to the development and growth rate also increased the loss.

Lesson to be learned: Pay attention to the personal experiences of your customers. Strengthen your ties with them. Follow the trends and be a pioneer. Anticipate their expectations and keep your online-offline store ready for their next purchase.

Polaroid's Mistake in Long-Term Predictions

Polaroid carried out a restructuring in 2010. However, when we look at the company strategy before doing this, this restructuring was a revolutionary move beyond what it seemed for a 30-year-old company with an annual revenue of $3 billion and employing 20,000 people.

Namely; The Polaroid entrepreneur had an aggressive corporate model. For this reason, he entered digital photography in the very early years (1989) and used 42% of his R&D budget in this field. However, Polaroid's success in markets and products where it was the strongest available at the time was being wrongly affected by this early foresight and concentration.

This new thesis that Polaroid was trying to bring to life was a wrong prediction in terms of timing according to the consumer behavior trends of the 90s and the current photo shoot opportunities. He believed that his clients would always want instant access to printed photography, and this would be achieved through pioneering innovations in digital photography. In fact, in 1985, MacAllister Booth, Polaroid's CEO, staunchly told investors and partners that he believed that as electronic imaging became more common, customers were more eager for permanent visual recording. This thesis continued with similar approaches for many years and developed products that customers would expect on hard-copy photography.

Lesson to be learned: It is not always right to be the first to disrupt an industry. If you spoil it with the wrong method and foresight, the results can be priceless. The essence of the job is to be able to change the route in the right direction by constantly making new analyzes and observations. Especially in this period of exponential development, the speed you have while making the change will also be very important.

Motorola's Collapse in the Phone Market

After releasing Motorola Razr brand phones in 2005, it became one of the best-selling phone brands in the world. But while he lost more than $4 billion between 2007 and 2009, he thought that as Motorola he would retain the fact that it was the world's leading cell phone maker.

What happened in this process happened with the emergence of Android technology. Having insufficient devices in 3G internet use, not prioritizing internet use and its impact on phone use in a timely manner, and not being able to compete with the user experience created by Apple, although Motorola tried to compete with the popular brand of that period Black Berry with its Q series, it is time for the process that will have similar endings. had come.

Lesson to be learned: The achievements you have will not be a guarantee for your next success. Include people in your company who can anticipate potential opportunities, catch change, and alert and inform you.