After struggling for the past few years, Kodak has declared bankruptcy. 

I might be revealing my age, but I fondly remember being given a Kodak Brownie camera as a birthday gift and saving allowance money for film and processing. 

I recently came across a treasure trove of old photos I took back then and was awash in nostalgia. Kodak’s big mistake was their nostalgia, trying to continue selling Brownies in the digital age.

I became aware of Kodak’s situation when I went to a big sporting event two years ago. There were tens of thousands of people in the stands and most (myself included) were taking photos using digital cameras and cell phones. 

I realized that, had this happened 15 years ago, most of those cameras would have had film and that film would need to be processed to transform it into photographs. I mentioned to my companion that, unless they had a strategy to somehow become a big player in digital photography, it looked like Kodak was in trouble. 

Are you in trouble also?

While I don’t know anything about the specifics of Kodak’s issues, it’s my guess that their management has been wallowing in that nostalgia for years, remembering the glory days when they dominated their industry and every drug store was selling film and photo processing. 

Some executives will even remember their big, fatal mistake of not embracing and leading the world into digital photography after they invented it. Their film and processing business was such a cash cow that they probably didn’t want to encourage anyone to take photos differently, so their strategy was to stick their head in the sand and pretend the future wasn’t going to happen. 

They might as well have tried to turn off the Internet, trying to hold on to the past. Are you an ostrich with your head stuck in the sand also?

I see the same “hold on to the past” mentality among many businesses and institutions, especially smaller firms. The owners have worked hard to get past the difficult start-up years and have reached a point where they are comfortably profitable.  They want to stay that way but aren’t aggressively seeking to improve their processes much, invest much in new equipment, education, or techniques. They want to keep things comfortable, just the way things are.  But the world doesn’t work that way.

Their customers always want newer, better, cheaper, faster, friendlier… and more. They see their competitors profiting from innovation and technology but won’t move into the future until the change has been proven and by the time they play “catch-up” the innovators haven’t stood still, they have moved on to the even-newer and continue to pull away from the laggards at an ever increasing velocity. Is this happening to you? I hope not!

Kodak may turn itself around once they go through the typical disruptive bankruptcy actions of downsizing by amputating underperforming parts of the business, selling assets to raise capital, and returning as a different entity. 

Small businesses, in general, don’t have the same luxury of assets to sell and access to capital markets. We have to avoid the comfort of nostalgia by constantly looking forward to find improvements you can offer your customers and prospects. Seek cutting edge advice. Attend trade shows to discover new equipment, new services, new techniques. Constantly read trade journals, industry blogs and internet forums as well as non-industry business magazines and books. Develop a mindset to be constantly seeking new approaches to consider adding to your tool bag of management processes. Test the ones that seem to fit your business and Vision but do it in a way so you are using as much risk-avoidance as possible. Embrace those that work by taking the plunge and investing in that education, equipment, and systems so your business remains competitive and attractive to your customers and prospects. 

Sure, old Brownie cameras (and the many newer non-digital cameras) bring a nostalgic smile, but won’t sell any more. Forget nostalgia; embrace the future so your company won’t fall off the iconic pedestal like Kodak.

Larry Galler specializes in coaching owners of small businesses to grow their business through effective marketing, customer retention programs and systemizing their business practices. Explore how he can help you during a free coaching session by calling (219)464-9463 or e-mail Larry@LarryGaller.com. Visit his website at www.OneYearToGreatness.com.