Since this is the season of cricket (IPL), I will use a cricketing analogy to write about an idea that all who are heading businesses or responsible for P&Ls need to think about.
In cricket, one needs a mix of the ones and twos along with the boundaries and sixes to get to a good score. In business too, one needs to get the low-hanging fruit (or call it the bread-and-butter business) going, along with the game-changing ideas. Without the base revenue streams, it becomes hard to keep investing in the big ideas – because one runs the risk of failing (caught out). Keeping the scoreboard ticking is very important. At the same time, one does need to think about how to create a product that can provide a significant competitive advantage and be a differentiator in the marketplace.
Many times, we try and only do one of the two, and that is not good enough if one wants to create a dominant position in the industry segment.
