Pivots

From Twitter last week:

@stevenackerman: Sainsbury’s as a music retailer. Don’t see that at all, but then again what do I know? http://t.co/zvtDXLhl
@mattballantine: no doubt in late 1990s, “Apple as a music retailer” would have had a similar response…
@stevenackerman: I really hope you’re not comparing Apple and Sainsburys!!
@mattballantine: I know, I know. Apple would never have used that shade of orange…

Since that last rather flippant comment, however, I think I’ve realised that not only is there probably more in common between the two companies than might at first meet the eye, but also that this kind of hindsight well illustrates the idea in entrepreneurial terms of “the pivot”.

Apple these days is a significant retailer. It has (according to Wikipedia) 364 retail stores across the globe, in comparison to Sainsbury’s 934 (again from Wikipedia). It’s “own brand” products are consumer electronics, in comparison to Sainsbury’s food and household consumables, but both do good trade from selling third-party products: Sainsbury’s both online and in store, Apple more online through it’s Apps and media propositions.

That Sainsbury’s wants to try to compete in the online music retailing business isn’t that outlandish – especially as it has a recent history of diversifying into markets with which it wouldn’t have traditionally been associated with, most notably in the financial services space. Walking around the cramped Queen’s Road Sainsbury’s supermarket in Watford in my childhood, it would have seemed outlandish that it would one day be competing with Barclays or NatWest in retail banking (or indeed with the major petrol brands on the forecourt). There may well be a significant group of consumers for whom Sainsbury’s would be a more trusted music retailer online or offline than Apple.

What both Apple and Sainsbury’s seem to be able to demonstrate is the ability to pivot: to move into new business markets without necessarily being too concerned about if that is “what they do”. There aren’t many industries where companies can have a long, sustained existence selling the same products to the same customers, but companies that are about to pivot are often going to be met with a resounding “huh?”. (That’s not to say, however, that every pivot is successful… learning to fail fast is another crucial skill of the good entrepreneur).