5 ways to leapfrog the competition

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?

Have an offering that defines the market?

Here are five ideas on how you can do this.

𝟭. 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲

This is huge but often missed. Don’t be all things to all people – rather serve one niche so well that no one else can compete with you.

Know them, understand their unique problems and align your offering and operations precisely to their needs.

The kicker: this means stopping doing the other stuff that sidetracks you from your core tribe as this distracts and destroys value.

𝟮. 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹

What do I mean by this? Think Airbnb – the No1 hotel that has no hotels! Hosts provide the real estate, meaning Airbnb only has a fraction of the costs of a traditional hotel chain.

The result? Massively reduced fixed costs and the ability to scale fast and cheaply. Mapping your current business model and designing new models for the future is time well spent.

𝟯. 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿

You have a superpower: the one thing that your firm is stand out brilliant at. For Dyson, it’s developing smart IP, for Lidl, it’s cost leadership. But what is it for you?

Have you worked it out? Next question – how much time do you give it? Do you cherish and grow your superpower?

It’s so easy to be flat out on the day job and neglect your superpower so your core competitive edge gets blunted.

𝟰. 𝗕𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲

What if your services were so integrated into your customers’ business that leaving you would cause real harm?

I’m not talking about complex contracts, I’m talking about your hard to copy services and tech that others can’t replicate, which form part of the heartbeat of their operations.

Doing this takes time and insight as well as focusing on a tightly defined niche – but get it right, and you’re building strong foundations for your firm.

𝟱. 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿

Most companies talk about innovation, but few have the toolkit to do it fast. How do you harvest ideas, pick the best and get to market fast?

The answer is, you need the routines and toolkit in place – get this right, and you’ll be ahead of the pack.