It's admirable to innovate and try to bring the culture and your field further. Not simply better in the already approved upon metrics. But creating something new all together.
The problem, however, is that you're not only ahead of your competition, but also ahead of your customers. Customers use what they know to judge what they see. Most of them are used to the regular kind. Most even prefer it. There's a small portion of the market that want something new. An even smaller portion that wants something so new that they're not sure what it is yet.
It's hard enough to innovate. Know that if you take on the challenge, you also increase the burden on you to find the right customers and explain, show and teach them what it is and why it is better.
When Lucas started with Tin men and the Telephone, all the music halls wouldn't touch it. They had to create their own success and put on a show themselves. And so they went all over town to put up posters everywhere. People showed up. And after having shown that they could drum up an audience, the podiums opened up to them. They couldn't just practice what they preached. They had to preach what they practiced.
Obviously, the easier way is to simply improve an existing product in a way that is already being missed by folks. Similar product, but more attention to the client, or more sustainable or healthier. Using the genre of your product as a launch pad (rather than a box). But it's the crazy ones who pursue nonetheless and help us all move forward. I salute you!
This is one of the insights Lucas Dols of Sounds of Change shared in our conversation on De Gebakken Peren. We also talked about the power of music when working with kids in refugee camps; about the change of identity when Lucas morphed from musician into entrepreneur and trainer working with music; and about differences and inclusivity.
