Copying as a Business Model

I have written the title above 16 times so as readers don't get the idea that I have embraced copying as a way to do business. After a few tries I came to realize that yes, copying could be a business model as long as it is done ethically and the end result is not a pure copy but an improvement on the copied product. There I said it. In this article I am going to talk deeply on how to use copying to build a successful business, fast.

I am writing this while in Delhi, India. As part of my stay here I have been using various products and apps and visiting various businesses trying to learn about the entrepreneur and business ecosystem. One major thing that I have noticed is that businesses are very competitive. A major competition I am seeing is between delivery apps Swiggy and BlinkIt (owned by Zomato which is a major food delivery app). The value proposition of these apps is grocery delivery in a few minutes. BlinkIt offers free delivery within 15 minutes. Swiggy decided to offer a better deal by offering delivery in 12 minutes. The amazing thing is, both have consistently delivered within time. Its pretty much magic. As a customer, this is something I would happily love someone to copy back home.

And there lies the secret copying strategy. Normally you would visit a street in Dar with 5 very similar shops within short distances of each other. If someone opens a fruit stand and they start doing well, you would see another similar fruit stand open right beside it. This style of copying is unethical and majorly unproductive. Most of the time you would just be dividing the customers among the shops. You have no unfair advantage and you are unlikely to reach your highest potential as a business owner.

A better copying strategy that has been used for hundreds of years is taking an idea that is working very well in another country and applying it in your country as long as the customer base is similar. You will see this in franchises. KFC is doing amazingly well in the US where there a lot of chicken and fast food lovers. There are a lot of chicken and fast food lovers in Tanzania as well. Hence KFC franchises in Tanzania are likely to do very well too.

But maybe you don't want to open a KFC and you don't have $500,000 lying around to buy a franchise. What do you do? First decide on a business you want to launch. Then do in-depth research on similar businesses in other countries. If you are in Tanzania, focus on India, Phillipines, Vietnam, Thailand and China. These countries have the most similar customer base profile to Tanzania (affordable, easy to use and taste). If your business is more on the luxury side, researching businesses in the USA, Europe and South Africa is more suitable for you. You can do this completely online if you are dedicated. I would suggest to spend 2 to 4 weeks focused on finding a business you wish to emulate. Its best you find 3 options before going in the next step.

After finding the 3 options, investigate each option deeply in order to learn about the businesses as much as you can. What is their unique value proposition? How do they deal with customers? What are their margins? How do they remain profitable? What is their most profitable product/service? How do they do their marketing? Learn everything and have it written down for each business. These things will help you while you are structuring your own business.

Once you have in depth info about the businesses you aspire to copy, its time to add your own twist to it. It could be one thing. I would recommend a maximum of 3 new ideas. Don't change a working business model too much. It could be appearance of branding, or additional products or just a personal touch. I want to repeat on leaving the business model intact unless you are sure it wont be a structure that will work in your local market.

If you have done this for the 3 options you have, its time to choose one based on your local knowledge and preferences. Then launch. If the 1st model doesn't work then you have 2 other options to use in bettering your new businesses. Over time you will arrive to the most viable model for your market. Most times your business will likely work very well from the get go. And that is how you copy folks....

So today we have learnt about copying. Maybe you still feel like copying is bad so I have prepared examples of major businesses whose business models are copying or were started by copying. The famed Windows started as a loose copy of Macintosh. Facebook is rampant in copying features that work in other apps. Locally after MPESA, other mobile services are copies of that. Most of these aren't 100% copies but have used other businesses as a starting point of improvement. The final message is, copy then improve away, fellow hustler.