In 1986 I gave an interview to a British music paper. The headline was 'BRANSON'S BOMBSHELL'. I said that we were planning to put every album and single onto a small portable computer box and that the listener would be able to buy it and play any record they wanted, listening through mini-headphones. I said it would revolutionise the music industry – and people believed me. I got frantic phone calls from some major record company bosses pleading with me not to launch such a device. They told me it would blow away the record industry. Then I pointed out the date. It was 1 April – April Fool's Day. When the editor of the paper found out, he wasn't amused.
Fifteen years later, Apple sold its first iPod.
The best, most solid way out of a crisis in a changing market is through experiment and adaptation. Businesses surf the waves of changing circumstances, and I can't offhand think of any industries whose best players are not constantly engaged in reinvention of one sort or another.
Making changes and improvements is a natural part of business, and for sole traders and very small companies, the distinction between innovation and day-to-day delivery is barely noticeable and unimportant. It's all just business, and creative, responsive, flexible business comes easier to you the smaller your operation.
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