This month marks 7awi’s 10-year anniversary and my 10-year anniversary with my cofounder @Shadi Al-Said. We have been doubted and admired. While, I am always grateful for receiving a compliment about 7awi, but deep inside, I am always thinking how we continue to reinvent #7awi day over day. True compliments and success are when you continuously transform the company.
We have been re-inventing our business every few years. Most of the time, this has been done unintentionally or intuitively. However, with experience, trial and error and market dynamics, I am realizing that I must steer the ship in the right direction (the North Star). I am making a bet and I am hoping it is a smart and well-calculated bet. In the back of my mind, not making this bet is far more dangerous. Keeping the status-quo will definitely lead to unwelcomed results and this is why.
In the past two decades, we have lived and witnessed the boom and bust of many companies. Those who managed to reinvent themselves and those who believed in the status-quo and eventually were displaced. I can name many of these who just were too inflexible about their products, services and/or business model. They were unable to quickly maneuver to a new business by repurposing their own assets (Kodak). Decision making was one of their drawbacks they had holed themselves in.
This is why I am a strong believer in “On-going Transformation”. The “Digital-Transformation” era itself is now outdated. In the industry we are in (media and publishing), it is no longer about traffic and advertisement. In fact, very few (handful) can succeed with this and as an independent digital platform, my intent is not to compete with the big boys (we all know them), but instead find the gaps that enables me to pursue new business models.
This is why I am on a mission to #Re_Invent_7awi and just like we did in the past few years, we will continue to do so, but this time we are better prepared with a blueprint of what we want, armed with understanding of market dynamics, competition, consumer behavior, trends, and innovation.
So the advice to myself and my team:
- Be POSITIVE – Be Prepared for CHANGE!
- Keep the business running – we don’t have the luxury. We must hit our targets.
- Think Differently
- Re-invent our skills
- Hire the required talent
Hello to the next 10 years of reinvention #reinvet #7awi #media #10yearsanniversary #10year7awiversary
