Ajay: Hello my restaurateur friend! Yesterday I got a chance to taste your food and it was absolutely delicious!
Friend: So glad to hear that!
Ajay: Im sure it would be impossible to find someone with a different opinion. So whats your next plan?
Friend: The menu is a hit. So I was thinking Ill just stick to it.
Ajay: Well its been a while, so why not experiment something? Add a few new items to the menu or something like that?
Friend: Im a bit apprehensive about it. Customers love what we are offering now. So why take a risk?
Ajay: Its a safe option. For now. But what about the future?
Friend: If people love it today, wont they love it tomorrow also?
Ajay: Thats one possibility. There are food joints that have gone on to become legends by offering what they have always served. But from an entrepreneurs point of view, I have also seen companies, who were once market leaders, being late to the party or left behind because they tried to play it too safe.
Friend: Really?
Ajay: Yes. Customer is the king. But when you hold on too tight to that dogma, you might not see an emerging market.
Friend: Oh!
Ajay: Xerox was the market leader in copy machines. But it wasnt the one to lead the small tabletop copier market. It was Canon.
Friend: Why?
Ajay: Because Xeroxs customer-base was mostly large photocopying centres and they had no use for the small copiers. And the company let its existing customers dictate their approach entirely. There are many more such examples.
Friend: Hmm.. I guess nothing wrong in adding a few new items to the menu.
Ajay: Thats entirely your discretion. All Im saying is markets change, technologies change, customers also change. If you can foresee that and not let yourself be entirely dictated by the customers of the present, you can always stay ahead of the game. Its your choice if you want to simply stay safe or be the one to create new markets.