We live in an age of disruptive innovations. Take a quick look around you and witness companies such as Uber or Airbnb disrupt entire industries by redefining established supply networks and opening up the marketplace to independent actors.

Family companies are often overlooked in favor of the glitz and glamour of tech firms, but they have also done their part in shaping industries with their innovative ideas.

In this list, we discover 8 world changing disruptive innovations by family businesses from around the globe.

8 Amazing Disruptive Innovations by Family Businesses
Photo by Nick ter Haar on Unsplash

1. Swiss Army Knife

Company: Victorinox

Created: 1891

Family: Elsner Family

Industry: Multi-tool

Karl Elsner’s revolutionary spring mechanism allowed for multiple features on the Swiss Army Knife, eliminating the need to carry individual tools.

8 Amazing Disruptive Innovations by Family Businesses
Image via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ford_assembly_line_-_1913.jpg) | Public Domain

2. Moving Assembly Line

Company: Ford

Created: 1913

Family: Ford Family

Industry: Automobiles

Ford’s moving assembly line drastically reduced the time and cost needed to produce a car, making Ford vehicles the first mass-produced automobiles worldwide.

 

8 Amazing Disruptive Innovations by Family Businesses
Image by Alistair Fernandez via Wikimedia Commons

3. Hybrid Vehicle

Company: Toyota

Created: 1997

Family: Toyota Family

Industry: Automobiles

The Toyota Prius was the world’s first mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid car, opening up a market for fuel-efficient vehicles.

8 Amazing Disruptive Innovations by Family Businesses
Photo by Peter G on Unsplash

 

4. Quartz Watch

Company: Seiko

Created: 1969

Family: Hattori Family

Industry: Watch

The Astron was the world’s first commercial quartz watch, setting off what became known as the “Quartz Crisis” due to its accuracy over traditional mechanical watches.

8 Amazing Disruptive Innovations by Family Businesses
Image courtesy of Anders

 

5. Mobile Phone

Company: Motorola

Created: 1983

Family: Galvin Family

Industry: Telecommunications

The Motorola DynaTAC was the world’s first commercially available mobile phone, resulting in advances in cellular services such as SMS and ultimately, the smartphone.

 

8 Amazing Disruptive Innovations by Family Businesses
Image by T. Koch via Wikimedia Commons | (CC BY-SA 4.0)

6. Instant Coffee

Company: Nestlé

Created: 1938

Family: Nestlé Family

Industry: Food & Drink

Nestlé’s Nescafe utilized an advanced coffee refining process to commercialize instant coffee, which became renowned for its speed of preparation and long shelf life.

8 Amazing Disruptive Innovations by Family Businesses
Image by Tetra Pak via Wikimedia Commons | (CC BY-SA 2.0)

7. Tetra Brik

Company: Tetra Pak

Created: 1963

Family: Rausing Family

Industry: Packaging

The iconic Tetra Brik’s aseptic packaging technology revolutionized the packaging industry, maintaining sterility for food contents and eliminating the need for refrigeration.

8 Amazing Disruptive Innovations by Family Businesses
Image by Nikkul via Wikimedia Commons | (CC BY-SA 2.0)

8. Tata Nano

Company: Tata Motors

Created: 2008

Family: Tata Family

Industry: Automobiles

The “world’s cheapest car” was released without most nonessential features, opening up a market for such compact, bare-minimum vehicles in the developing world.

Tharawat Magazine, Issue 24, 2014