Question: What do the items on this list have in common? 8-track tapes, party lines, telexes, portable CD players, VHS players, Beta Max, car cigarette lighters, rotary telephones, telephone books, Fuller Brush men, black and white television, Atari

Answer: They were all great ideas when they were created but are now extinct or about to become extinct as they are replaced with today’s great ideas.

Is your company moving along the path of extinction? Take a look at your service and see if you can predict the future replacement for your service. What will it be? How will you avoid the commoditization of the luxury transportation industry? How will you stay on the cutting edge? Innovators create markets for their products and services that may not have ever existed before.

Innovator Spotlight: Regal Limousine Service, Kitchen Tours

Chambers of commerce feature home tours in areas nationwide. People open their homes to the public on a certain date for charities who charge tourists admission to traipse through their homes. Typically, the tour includes admission and bus transportation. Some will provide a sit down or box lunch.

These tours are extremely popular with high-end homeowners who enjoy the day out while seeing up close and personal how their peers live. These events get a great deal of press since they combine charity purposes with peeks at the homestyles of the rich and famous.

A new twist on the home tour is the kitchen tour. Kitchen renovations are the most costly in a home. This Saturday, Regal Limousine of North Hampton, N.H., will be transporting attendees to the 17th annual Music Hall Kitchen Tour in Portsmouth in grand style. Attendees have the option of going to the event in limousines at a discounted rate.

For Regal, its vehicles will be out at an off-peak time. Regal has created demand for its service which would not otherwise have been there. Additionally, it receives cooperative press about the event, which also creates a great deal of good will for the company. Overall it is a win/win for Regal. Even if they don’t book one car for the event, the press is alone worth it.

Wayne Cipullo, general manager of Regal Limousine, believes that these events have many benefits. “We look forward to participating in local events like the Music Hall Kitchen Tour. It allows us to put our vehicles on the road during off peak hours, support our community, and increase our exposure to our market,” Cipullo says.

Is your company among the innovators or the dinosaurs?

Tell Linda Moore by e-mailing her at Linda.Moore@bobit.com

Source: Linda Moore, LCT Magazine