There is something about the human instinct that insists that
coming first is always best. For example, who ever remembers who
comes third in the World Cup? But in business, it is very often the
opposite which is true. I don't really want to get into a debate about who
invented television but it appears to me that "Zworykin had a
patent, but Farnsworth had a picture...". In the end it was Zworykin
and RCA paying Farnsworth the royalties, not the other way around.
John Logie Baird also played a role, as did a Mexican and a few
others. I don't want to labour the point but do you think any of
those people mentioned made anywhere near the EUR268,900,000,000
that the global TV market is worth today? Look, I know 80 years is
stretching a point life in abundance but I think you can see my point. You don't have
to be the inventor to make money. You don't even have to be 'first
to the market'. Don't believe me? Well, I'll let John Boddie take
it from here as he tells you about Apple (makers of iPod etc.):
"Apple Computer's recent domination of the digital music
environment provides a surprising example of the disadvantages of
being first to market. The innovative computer company that has
become a leading force in the music space appears to have built a
core strength around figuring out how to succeed at being a
deliberate and very smart second (or even third) to market.
Indeed, with such prominent early exceptions as the mouse and the
graphical user interface, Apple has rarely succeeded because of an
appreciable first-to-market advantage. NEC beat Apple to the
notebook computer, and Rio and Eiger Labs both had MP3 players long
before the iPod was ever introduced. Sony's ACID, Cakewalk's Pyro,
and others offered desktop music-editing software before Apple ever
released its option.
Despite this seeming disadvantage, Apple has managed to lead these
markets because it has been able to initiate several new-market
disruptions in music and computing, including iTunes, iMovie, and
GarageBand, the company's eighteen-month-old music-editing software
suite.
In each case, Apple reached consumers unavailable to its
predecessors though the virtues of good design, ease of use, clever
marketing, and smart distribution. All these efforts were aimed at
making sure potential customers understood the substantial
differences between the first-to-market technologies that preceded
GarageBand and the appealing, thoughtful technologies that Apple's
product offers to attract inexperienced consumers.
For its part, GarageBand affords a good example of how to create
new-market disruptions with smartly designed technologies. Using
GarageBand software, individuals with no previous recording and
editing experience can create their own home-based music studios,
where they can post new music and remix versions of older music
online."
I'm back. Get my point? Second to market will often win hands down.
Especially when you have had a chance to have a look what is on
offer and figured out a way to improve that offer. Go on, have a
look around you. Do you see an existing service, product or
business that could be improved upon? Could you do what they are
doing better? Are they busy? With your improvements, could they
(you) be busier?
That's the secret. Find something that is already successful and
figure a way how to do it better. Then do it. Here endeth today's
lesson (for me as well).