Ever since Amazon went online in 1995, the e-commerce juggernaut has undergone a

slew of changes — despite being led by the same man, Jeff Bezos, during the ensuing
two-plus decades.
When the Seattle-based company first launched its website, all it sold was books.
Gradually, Bezos and his team expanded Amazon’s offerings to include things like CDs
and DVDs.
But Amazon never really stopped changing the inventory it sold.
Bezos said he wanted his store to become the world’s largest, so he worked hard
toward meeting that goal — whether that meant offering new products, launching
Amazon Prime, launching Amazon Instant Video ... the list goes on and on.
Today, Amazon sells more than 200 million products to customers all over the world.
Though for years, Amazon’s detractors insisted that the company wasn’t making
enough profits to justify any investments, that all changed in 2015 when the company
posted back-to-back successful quarters.
The market responded kindly, and today, Amazon boasts a market valuation of more
than $440 billion.
But Bezos isn’t anywhere close to done yet. There are talks of Amazon delivering
packages via drone.
And if that wasn’t enough, Bezos recently said he hopes Amazon can produce as many
as 16 feature films each year. In 2017, Bezos & his team took home three Oscars.
Indeed, it appears as though Amazon is a company that can be characterized as
changing constantly. To date, they’ve been successful, probably because the company
is always putting its customers first.
 Figuring out how to keep up with, or stay ahead of, the competition is always a top
priority for businesses
Change is the only thing in this world that is permanent.
Innovate with your products and services, and don't hesitate to take the risk. For
example, you could add enhanced capabilities to your existing business processes
using virtual reality applications like Samsung Gear VR.

Giants like Nokia and BlackBerry were wiped out from the smartphone market because
of lack of innovation. Always remember that your competitors are regularly innovating
and new entrants are disrupting the marketplace. Your business should innovate often
and in a manner that the competition finds hard to follow.

Let’s face it. It’s hard to be competitive… especially when you’re dead. Hootsuite’s
CEO, Ryan Holmes, notes in a LinkedIn article:

“When some companies stop innovating, it can literally kill them.”

To prove his point, he points to Blockbuster, a company that went from being the
planet’s biggest video chain to bankruptcy in no time flat. Why is Blockbuster such a
cautionary tale? The chain fell victim to evolving technologies, stiff competition from the
likes of Netflix and Redbox and a tragic inability to anticipate change and master it.
They all dominated their markets and then, within a pretty short space of time, lost their
top dog status.

There is more to a successful business than simply getting to the top.

The problems are numerous, and chief among them is a refusal to diversify or get with
the program or create a new trend aligned with customers' expectations.

In simple terms:

You snooze, you lose

Even the most successful businesses face customer, competitive, and business growth
challenges.

The factors which led to stunning success in times past may not be what leads you to
success in the future.
Make sure that you give your customers good reasons to come to you rather than your
competitors. Your unique selling proposition should be obvious – no one should have to
ask.

However, where little distinguishes your product or service from your competition, as a
business leader you need to make sure that your core processes and strategy set you
apart from the rest.