Dominoes Entrepreneur Lily Hevesh
Domino is a game in which players set up domino pieces (also known as bones, cards, men or tiles) side-by-side to form a chain of squares with alternating colored sides. The value of each side is represented by dots or marks called pips. A domino with more pips has higher value than one with fewer pips or none at all. Dominoes have been around for centuries and are still popular today, especially among children and adults who enjoy building intricate layouts of domino chains.
Lily Hevesh started playing with dominoes when she was nine years old. She loved setting them up in straight or curved lines, flicking the first one and watching the entire line fall. Dominoes have since become a passion for Hevesh, who has gone on to create spectacular domino setups for movies, TV shows and events—including an album launch by pop star Katy Perry. She also has a huge following on YouTube, where she posts videos of her stunning creations.
Hevesh learned a lot from her years of creating dominoes. For example, she realized that if you want something to happen in your life, it’s important to focus on the small steps that can make it happen. Then, when you do those things consistently, the results can be like a series of dominoes falling—it’s just that instead of food pips, the outcome is positive habits.
In addition to the traditional blocking and scoring games, dominoes can be used for a variety of positional games, where one domino is placed edge-to-edge against another, forming either an identical pair or some specified total value. Then other dominoes are played to that domino, and again to that domino, and so on. The shape of the resulting chain develops at random according to the whims of the players, the size of the board and the limitations of space.
A key lesson for entrepreneurs from Domino’s is that it’s possible to change the course of an entire industry with a single move. For example, the success of third-party delivery services such as Uber Eats and DoorDash has threatened Domino’s business model. However, Domino’s has been able to overcome this threat by focusing on its core values and listening to customers.
The company’s reliance on technology is one of its most important assets. By embracing new ways to order pizza, such as texting an emoji or using voice commands on devices like Amazon Echo, Domino’s has been able to stay ahead of the competition. In addition, the company listens to customer feedback and makes changes accordingly. For example, in 2014, Domino’s CEO Brandon Doyle made it a point to listen to employees’ complaints and act quickly on them—which led to a new relaxed dress code and training programs. It also put a focus on opening stores near colleges, which helped it attract the young, tech-savvy pizza-lovers who were driving its growth. Domino’s has also implemented a system for evaluating employee performance. This has resulted in a more cohesive culture, and has also been instrumental in helping the company recruit talented people.