We Went up Against a Highly Regulated, Entrenched Industry. Here Are 4 Tips for Getting Your Foot in the Door. Focus on creating value, not disruption.
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Multibillion-dollar legacy industries don't make it easy for entrepreneurs to step in and create value. There are huge barriers to entry -- licensing, pricing, regulations, and cultural/brand significance -- that come with being around for a century or more.
However, those barriers shouldn't stop you from innovating.
Take the utility sector for example, which is perhaps most frightening of all: a trillion-dollar taxpayer subsidized network of poles and wires set up through franchised municipal monopolies. Otherwise known as, our power and energy industry. It's a mouthful of protection, and as a result, utilities make for a great investment (just ask Warren Buffet), since the likelihood of disruption is tough to even think about. To most reasonable entrepreneurs, the regulated utility sector, similar to the financial and healthcare industries, is tantamount to a "NO TRESPASSING" sign.
But, that is exactly what makes the effort so worthwhile. If you can successfully work with or alongside a monolith industry and produce value, instead of being focused on "disruption," you'll be able to achieve massive results.
When we first started trying to provide consumers cleaner and better energy options, getting to market proved difficult as we were trying to break into a utility-customer relationship (paying a power bill) that hasn't really changed for the last half-century. But, with a clear mission in mind and the understanding that we would have to work in unison with utility providers, we were able to start making our mark.
Here are a few tips for getting your foot in the door:
Create value, not disruption.
There are some industries where the Silicon Valley catchphrase "disruption" falls flat. Some industries just aren't meant to be disrupted in the way that people in the tech community are used to. Nearly our entire economy depends on the power grid and we couldn't come in and totally upheave that. When you're going after a big industry, you first need to provide value to the customer or the provider. Show instead of tell that you have a strong customer base and that people need what you're offering. And build relationships -- working together with the big players in the space will get you much faster and better results for your company and your customers.
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Focus on the customer experience.
When you're a startup, you already have the advantage of being years ahead in your digital experience compared to traditional companies in your space. Own that and hone in on it to make it the best customer experience possible. We looked across sectors to bring modern design, UX and data elements to the home energy experience. Traditional companies aren't necessarily thinking that way, and you'll win people over by offering self-service customer tools, easy payment options and notifications they actually understand. Good communication with your customers goes a long way.
Start small, build toward the vision.
A lot of startups begin with very lofty goals -- disrupting whole industries and changing the entire way a process is done. We certainly had a broad vision to be the trusted home energy advisor for everything from solar to batteries. But, you'll never be able to achieve anything if you try to tackle everything all at once in a highly regulated and old-fashioned industry. Instead, to get started, focus on one thing. For us, it was offering clean energy via renewable energy certificates (REC). By starting small, you'll be able to learn about and understand the space you're going into, and will be able to see if there's a market for what you're offering. As you learn, you can slowly expand step by step and tackle more complex products in the industry.
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Use best practices from other innovative industries.
No industry has a monopoly on good ideas, and the boom in direct-to-consumer brands across apparel, food, finance and healthcare provides a great roadmap for how to build a modern customer experience. Look to other industries that have been there and done it. For example, Mint.com has created an innovation through the consumer interface -- in their case to manage finances -- while leaving the existing banking and credit card infrastructure in place.
While the thought of breaking into an established industry is definitely intimidating, in today's entrepreneurial environment it is definitely possible and innovation is desperately needed. Success depends on the ability to shed your typical idea of disruption, and stay patient and persistent.
