SmileDirectClub (SDC), an American teledentistry company once valued at nearly $9 billion and poised to disrupt the traditional braces industry, went bankrupt in December 2023. SDC offered a breakthrough solution for teeth straightening. With the price (originally some $1,800 vs. the standard $3,000-$6,000), the time of treatment (6 months vs. around 2 years), no required office visits, plus clear aligners you can slip on and off, it is not surprising that SDC took off. Since its founding in 2014, a customer base of 2 million people opted for SDC vs. traditional braces.
The Benefits of Innovation That Isn’t Disruptive
Finding entirely new opportunities for growth has four clear advantages.
March 11, 2024
Julia Potato/Stocksy
Summary.
Disruption is not the only path to innovation and growth. Creation without disruption or nondisruptive creation is about creating a new market outside or beyond existing industry boundaries, and has its own organizational and business advantages. In this article, the authors outline four advantages to opting for this nondisruptive route: 1) It allows you to avoid direct confrontations with established incumbents. 2) It is an effective way to respond to full-on disruption. 3) It makes it easier to secure support from internal stakeholders. 4) It largely avoids backlash from external stakeholders.
responding to full on disruption effectively, gaining support from internal stakeholders, and not triggering backlash from external stakeholders.