As a company, Brompton is very slow moving. If you look at their product offering, it’s really just 1 bike since 1975, just with new touches here and there.
You can draw a similar parallel to Converse sneakers. They’re very iconic. But, what Brompton has failed to do, unlike Converse, is to bring a more diverse offering to the table. Converse is really known for one type of sneaker in almost every color, but they have skateboarding sneakers, running sneakers, etc., ensuring a more diverse audience, as well as, a life-long customer because they have different sneakers to meet different needs.
The lack of innovation can be seen throughout the company from top to bottom. There are no visionaries within the company, to make this company great, to make its people great.
Management fails to understand basic business concepts and believes that every market/region/territory can be treated the same. They don’t care about the details!
Steve Jobs said that he hires smart people for them to tell him what to do, not for him to tell them what to do. Brompton brass, you want good people to do great work, so stop getting in the way of that.
Also, this can be a very ego driven company. Brompton allows for these egos to get bigger even when they don’t deliver. It’s just amazing to see so many people fail upwards.
Turnover is a sign of what separates mediocre companies from good companies. This company has a lot of turnover, which I expect is because of poor management/leadership, as well as, no opportunities for advancement.
