Traditionally in Econ 101, they teach you competitive advantage by telling proposing an imaginary society who specializes in a commodity (usually the dreaded widgets). Then it’s all about how to mobilize your operations to profit off of widgets, even your society might have also whats-its.
Theoretically, I understood the concept. I just never emotionally connected to freakin’ widgets or graphs, so there goes $600 for that course. Recently I forget what I was watching on Netflix, but it made me think about competitive advantage differently, and how everyone should think about theirs, not just businesses.
Someone’s Competitive Advantage Feels like: “Well, obviously…”
You know when you think of some super successful person, and think, “Of course he would be successful! He too a typography course when it had no direct correlation to his field of study. Then applied his design sensibility to something like the blocky computers back in the day!”
Clearly, we’re talking about Steve Jobs, and thinking about his famous Stanford commencement speech telling graduates to ‘connect the dots.’ Steve Jobs didn’t know typography was going to fit into his widely influential design-led company! Only looking back does it fit in perfectly.
If you ever thought it was so easy for someone to succeed, and so hard for you… think about it in reverse.
What could you do that’s not normal, that when you look back could either turn out to be a disaster/waste of time/a dumb idea… or a huge success?
Your Competitive Advantage Feels Like: “Obviously not!”
On the flip side of being able to connect the dots only looking back, that means you don’t get a crystal ball as you’re making decisions looking forward.
Your competitive advantage will have some aspect of looking unstable, even if it’s something super obvious like your parents owning a factory and you want to create a new brand with the same product said factory makes.
You could still doubt yourself, thinking, “What if there are better technologies out there? My parents haven’t been innovating in the past decade…” Let’s face it, we always wonder what the other side of the grass looks like, even if we’re privileged to have things right in front of us
I kept asking myself, “Do I really need to take this sewing program? I could simply hire someone and cut down the time. Would this be the stupidest or the smartest thing I’ve done to launch this business?”
Because I’m still in the process, I wouldn’t know. But what I do know is that I’m starting to
- understand pattern pieces (ie. a sleeve being a bell curve no longer phases me)
- learn high-end techniques other brands may shy away from
- analyze how much a garment might cost (and how much I should pay for it)
- get used to how different fabrics sew (slippery? starchy?)
- get a better idea of how to communicate with pattern drafters, sample sewers
Also, you’re reading this blog right now because over a decade ago, when a friend was reviewing my resume she asked me, “Why don’t you put writing down as a skill?” My reaction:
Feeling Uncertain? That’s GOOD!
Most people starting businesses now (especially as side hustles) are outsourcing the soul of a brand (design, marketing, product development). I’ve often been advised to just sketch something out and get it made by someone else.
But something didn’t sit well inside me, because I felt like I was missing an arm if I didn’t understand the fundamentals of the product. So, what feels like going backwards could very well serve me tenfold in the future.
I didn’t see it then, but only as I’m writing this now, I recall my business coach putting my situation into context: not many business owners would go so in depth as you would to learn product development.
So your competitive advantage might not feel like one at all. You could think you’re making a dumb decision (like I did). You could overlook it (because it’s so innate in you). You could think it’s not the smart way to go (like how I felt about using my mother-in-law’s stockpile of fabric in the garage).
Think about your competitive advantage this way: Can you turn, “But no one else is doing it…” into a, “No one else is doing it, so I am.”?
How to Find Your Edge as a Business Owner
Are you a so-so physiotherapist trying to build his business? Maybe your customers are complaining about not being able to consistently do the exercises. You discover that the app you’re currently using does not check in with the user for accountability, and you create your own app and add a pop-up function and gamify it. You make millions by licensing the software to other physios around the world.
You just gotta see things ever slightly differently. That’s all.
(By the way, if you’re a tech-loving physio, please steal this idea. I would love to have something like this! Or if it exists, let me know!)
How to Find Your Edge as an Employee
Or perhaps, like most of us, you work a 9 to 5 desk job. You don’t come up with the best ideas, BUT you’re really good with the ‘boring’ details everyone else overlooks: time management, budgeting, kindly nudging your team to do their best. You become the person who can get your team to ideate without editing by giving them a deadline to come up with the craziest ideas. It works, your team lands a big client because you were able to push for creative ideas and reign everyone in. You rise up the ranks in leadership.
Here’s another way to think about Competitive Advantage:
“I’m not the smartest (or insert with anything else), but I am/can/see/enjoy _____”
TLDR: How to Think About Your Personal Competitive Advantage
- Doing _____ is not in the textbook to success. When I look back, it could either turn out to be a disaster/waste of time/a dumb idea… or a huge success.
- No one else is doing _____, so I am.
- I’m not the smartest (or insert with anything else), but I am/can/see/enjoy _____.
Steve Jobs wasn’t the first to invent computers. But he sure saw and thought about the user experience differently. One point of distinction is all it takes to turn a weird quirk into your biggest competitive advantage.
Email me when you make millions. It’ll make me so happy to know I helped!
xo, Miranda
PS. Read this if you know your personal competitive advantage, but need help deciding on a direction.
