Put You in Your Business
As I am building out businesses, one of the best books that has helped me is Rework.
This time, I share the idea:
Put YOU into your product or service. Even if someone copies you, they aren’t getting everything.
For me, when I considered starting a business before, one fear I had (and I’m sure everyone else does too) is that another larger (or even same) company would copy your idea and use their resources to destroy you.
Business Class Lesson
In business class, I studied about the “fast follower” destroying the “first mover”. There are cases littered throughout modern business history.
This definitely happens - the fast follower takes advantage of all the problems the first mover solved (i.e. creating the market, teaching others, messaging, etc.) and can follow quickly just by executing.
Rework It
In Rework, one can solve this by just: putting YOU into your product or service.
What does this mean? It means make the offering have as much of you as possible. Don’t follow current trends - pick one that you like. For colors, choose colors you like - not “safe ones” or popular ones.
Anything that resonates with you.
Why?
First - you’re putting your heart and soul into your business, have your heart and soul show up in the end result!
Otherwise, the end result becomes something so generic that… anyone can copy!
Second - when others want to copy, they will only copy the end result, which is only a superficial copy of you - not every part of the offering that you put in.
At best, they are copying the last version of the offering, because you are the current offering.
Uniquely You
All the thoughts of “fast follower” copying “first movers” well, those are true and great to look back on in businss history.
As I create my own business history, I’m going to make sure I include in my business the best part:
Me.