If you think the need to evolve doesn’t apply to business, you’re quickly going to find your customers desert you for those firms that are at the forefront of innovation. The survival of the fittest mentality is alive and well in the business world. In fact, with the rise of the internet and the ability to reach customers from across the world, the need to be one step ahead is even more important.

Delving into the history of business and you’ll find plenty of firms relegated to the scrap heap because they failed to embrace digital technology.

Take a look at Kodak. It was the leading photographic company for most of the 20th century, yet in an age where everyone is snapping shots for Instagram it’s fallen behind when its profits should be soaring. Other companies had seen the gap in the market and pounced on the chance to lead from the front. While Kodak survived bankruptcy in 2012 and is still trading, it’s just a shadow of what it could have achieved if it had continued to digitally evolve with the times.

Need another example of why you should be looking forward? Blockbuster is another iconic brand that quickly failed when it didn’t embrace the digital age. Having established a position as the go to place to pick up a movie or boxset, Blockbuster failed to take note when rivals emerged. Netflix started out as a company that posted discs direct to doors before making the jump to the streaming giant it’s become today. In contrast, Blockbuster clung on to its old operating model that became outdated in the face of online offerings and, despite trying to switch, the brand lost its crown.

Today businesses face the same dilemma as those companies that emerged in the new century as leaders only to find that a few short years later that an enterprising competitor had overtaken them.

The business Darwin race today isn’t about using digital – that’s become an essential – it’s about which businesses will be at the forefront of the next revolution. If businesses need a reason to be looking at the possibilities big data, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things hold, they simply need to look at the fates of those firms that dismissed the digital revolution as a passing fad.