Intrapreneurship

This Lagos sun is Arggghhh!!! I was brought up to believe that the earth and other planets revolve around the sun - well I think that the sun has started revolving around the earth! :'( Anyway back to today's topic ...

Intrapreneurship simply refers to internal entrepreneurship. This means creating opportunities or starting a new business within an existing one. It's a good way to stay relevant in the industry because if you keep trashing old ideas or products or services once new ones come up, then we would have a 'dumping' problem.

Take Coca-Cola for example. Consumers were patronising this product because it was the only product of its kind in the market. Then enters Pepsi - the consumers want a less carbonated drink and so opt for Pepsi. The Coca-Cola company then goes back to the drawing board and comes up with Coca-Cola light or Coca-Cola zero and this brings some of their original consumers back to them. We can see that there are three products in the market but the C.E.O of Coca-Cola is getting two-thirds of the market instead of just half that the original Coca-Cola brings - all things being equal.

Please note that these events are not accurate but just an illustration to demonstrate the intrapreneurship concept in a perfect market scenario.

Intrapreneurship allows you to retain your original customer base and build a new one by satisfying another lingering need of the market. There's no product that can satisfy 100% of the consumer market so intrapreneurship is one way to maximise one's hold on it. It is also a way to evolve with your target audience or consumers.

An example is Dora the Explorer (if you don't know what this is, please refer to google. It's too long to begin to explain. Thank you). Recently I discovered that there's a Dora and friends show where Dora is older and so her audience can grow with her from 'Dora the explorer' Dora to 'Dora and friends' Dora. Let's say the first show is from age 3 to 7 and the second one from 7 to 11. It would minimise show statistics losses due to shows that 'steal' these kids at age 5 and keep them glued till age 10.

Disclaimer: I was in no way approached by Nickelodeon to advertise this. It's just an example that seemed right given that I'm having a lazy morning as I'm writing this and watching cartoons too (Yes at my age :p). But if you know someone there, you can have them contact me for my account details.

Okay where were we?

Ultimately intrapreneurship is one of the best solutions to creative destruction (if you don't know what this is, click here) because the market is driven by the consumer's need and diversifying helps you satisfy different needs at the same time!

That's just something to chew on,

God's Girl