How are your New Year’s resolutions going? Were you able to reflect on the past, create new goals, and make a few positive changes since January 1?
According to activepause.com:
- 40-45% of American adults make resolutions each year.
- the top 3 resolutions are eating better, losing weight and quitting smoking.
- only 46% of all the resolutions made will be kept after 6 months.
Health.us.news.com also states that 80% of New Year’s resolutions will fail.
The bottom line—change is hard. If it weren’t so difficult, more people would keep their resolutions, and maybe more businesses would still be, well…in business. Take Blockbuster for example.
Blockbuster was created in 1985, and for a while, it had a monopoly on the video renting business. In 2000, Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, flew to Blockbuster headquarters to meet with Blockbuster CEO John Antioco to propose a partnership with the multi-million-dollar company. Hastings wanted Netflix to run Blockbuster’s brand online and in exchange, wanted Netflix to be advertised in Blockbuster’s brick-and-mortar stores.
Antioco and his team turned down the deal. After all, they were the leaders of their industry.
In 2004, Antioco realized his mistake. Seeing Netflix as a competitor, he tried to compete with them. Antioco removed late fees and invested heavily in Blockbuster’s online platform. But in 2005, he was fired. His replacement, only seeing the $200 million dollars the company lost when Antioco banished them, reinstated the late fees.
In 2010, Blockbuster went bankrupt. As of February 2017, Netflix was worth over $61 billion.
A few lessons we could learn from Blockbuster are:
- Be open to new ideas
- Invest time, money, etc. in exploring those new ideas
- Maintain a healthy online presence
Mark Vend isn’t afraid to change with the needs of our Chicago customers. We offer multiple ways to purchase items including credit/debit cards, mobile payment options; a wide variety of services including micro markets and office coffee service; and a large selection of products including healthy snacks and beverages.
Want to supply free snacks and beverages to your employees—just like Netflix? We can help with that too. Contact Mark Vend at (847) 291-9216 to learn more about the options available.