23 years ago, Nokia 3310 was launched and it sold over 126 millions units. Nokia produced phones whose hardware and battery life was top notch. At its peak, Nokia was unrivaled. They pioneered the start of a revolution in the mobile phone industry and were one of the first to launch an internet-enabled phone. They were pioneers in technology innovation. But where is Nokia today? What happened? Simply put, Nokia failed to embrace change, adapt to market trends and continuously innovate their product as technology continued to evolve.

The failure to evolve in a fast growing digital world is why many giants crumble. As business leaders, CEOs or Entrepreneurs, if our organizations will stay alive, it must develop a forward thinking mindset. A mindset that is visionary and innovative. Furthermore, it must begin to think of how to position itself for the future of doing business in the Web3 world, the new internet world.

Web3 is the term used for the new internet that is built using blockchain technology. If the new internet is built using blockchain technology, then inevitably it will gain traction and become widespread. This means that Blockchain is going to play a very vital role in the future of the internet and the way businesses interact with the web. This also means that business leaders need to consider the role blockchain will play in their organization.

With that in mind, the decision to implement blockchain goes beyond a mere technology upgrade or a need to join a fad. It is more of a necessary evil that every organization will have to face. It is a forward thinking decision that will position the organization either as an early adopter or at the least an early majority in the future of doing business in the new internet world.

The question business leaders should be asking now is not merely should my organization implement blockchain but how should it implement or synthesize blockchain. For example, if cryptocurrency will be the new kind of currency, how does my organization begin to innovate and adapt to that new trend?

For those who are not familiar with blockchain technology, let us define blockchain. According to Investopia, “Blockchain is a type of shared database that differs from a typical database in the way it stores information; blockchains store data in blocks linked together via cryptography. It allows the data in a database to be spread out among several network nodes—computers or devices running software for the blockchain—at various locations.”

In other words, Blockchain is a type of database that stores data in a decentralized manner. This makes blockchain a powerful tool for the new internet world, a world that boasts of decentralization and democratization. We can then conclude that Web3 is here to stay and as such its underlying technology, Blockchain, is here to stay too. Given this, business leaders should actively begin to consider the role blockchain will play within their organization in the Web3 world.

Some questions business leaders looking to take a forward thinking approach and position its organization at the forefront of doing business in the Web3 world should include:

Where do I see my organization playing in the future of the evolving internet?
Is my organization ready for this future?
Do I need to completely transform, adapt or pivot my business model to accommodate this future of doing business on the Web3?
Do I need to restructure parts of my business for this future?
What does the future of my industry look like within the fast evolving internet world?
Which areas can my organization play in this future of Web3? What products or services can we implement or what can we integrate into our existing business model?

If your organization will thrive and not just survive in the future digital world, it has to begin to think about the future of doing business in a fully operating Web3 world powered by Blockchain. Do not merely think of today’s need, rather consider the future of the company in a fast revolutionizing internet world and the role it can play in it.

Flutterwave recently announced its integration of its cross-border settlement solution with USDC stablecoin on Hedera Blockchain to facilitate easier, faster and more affordable money transfers, thereby positioning and preparing itself for the future of payments in a Web3 world.

In the early 2000’s, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos positioned his organization for the future of Web2, the world we now live in. He rode the wave of the pioneering and fast growing Web2. Today, Amazon is not just one of the highest revenue earning organizations in the world but it is also dominating the world of business. Why? Because Jeff saw that the internet was here to stay and it would change the way business was done. He rode the wave of that evolution and innovatively incorporated it into his business.

No business starts out to be another Nokia, but if business leaders do not take a forward thinking approach to position their organization in the new internet world, they will inevitably collapse. Every business leader playing the long term game must start playing offense and stop playing defense.

The pertinent question to business leaders is - how can I position my organization to thrive doing business in an internet world powered by blockchain?