The Importance of Becoming Unfair

If you grew up in a middle class educated family like me, you were probably taught to be fair and nice. In general it sounds fine, even common sense. What can be wrong with being fair? Everything, if you are building a business. If you look at the world around you, people and companies that are extremely successful have an unfair advantage. In some cases they were born or started with that or acquired an unfair advantage over time. If you look at Facebook, it wiped out MySpace (if you can even remember what that was). Facebook has become a natural monopoly. Several years ago Microsoft did that to Apple Computers- that was the name before they dropped the suffix. Microsoft became a monopoly for operating systems and productivity tools. When Apple recovered, they tried to do the same to others. Each of these businesses are now valued highly and their founders and executives glorified daily in the press and everyone is watching their every step. Everyone wants to be like them and learn from them.
Don't get me wrong, I am not arguing in favor of unethical or illegal tactics. Those are to be dealt with sternly and in the legal system. Even Google, whose founders famously declared their motto to be "Do no evil" have dominated markets in the ad business and built formidable barriers to entry. Even Microsoft could not compete and only Facebook has made headway. In most countries Uber does not pay the same level of taxes as regular cab services and does not pay insurance for the taxi drivers.
While these examples do talk about the eventual success of these large companies, they were once small and focused on being absolutely the best at one thing. Closer to home the success of companies like Infosys is an example of taking advantage of cheaper skilled labor. Potential paths for creating an unfair advantage are available to all. Are you focused on building an unfair advantage?

Levers for creating an unfair advantage
There are multiple ways in which you can create an unfair advantage for your business. This means that you are way better than anyone else in one or more of the attributes discussed below.
It could be your product or service. It could be your reach. It could be your price point or people. It could be regulations that make it difficult for others to enter the market. Most importantly it has to be something that is very difficult for your competition to replicate. If it is impossible to replicate, even better.
This is an exercise of looking inward as much as it is of looking outward. So this time I will pepper each section with questions. You will have to find the answers unique to your situation. Let's face it - common knowledge and commons ways of doing business will help you grow by putting things in higher gear, it won't put you in hyperdrive.

Product or service - offering
Does your product solve a unique problem? Does it solve the problem better than everyone else? Will it take years for others to build a product like yours? If you want rapid growth these are the question you should be asking yourself. Classic product building dogma will focus on differentiators. Things that allow you to call your product different from others and somehow claim that you have no competition by carving a niche. I am the cheapest product for the mid size business. Yes, you can build a business like that, but you will be facing continuous headwinds. What will it take for your offering to take away all the business from your competition?

Experience
Are you providing an addictive experience? Are you providing something that will leave your users stunned and speechless, in a good way? Are you so damn convenient that people cannot imagine going to anyone else? Is it so easy to buy from you that nobody will bother going to the competition? Remember that customer experience is not just the interaction or interface of your product it is the experience at each touch point between your prospects/customers and your company across getting to know about you, sales, support, actual product usage and more.

Cost
Are you getting the best possible deal from your suppliers and vendors? Something which nobody else can? Are you operating at an efficiency level that beats everyone else? Look at Walmart that has for years undercut the completion on price because they acquire products at the lowest cost. That was a strategy even before they grew so big. The rise of IT services companies in India was possible because they could deliver services cheaper. As the cost advantage has diminished, so has the rate of growth. You don't have to be a behemoth to get great deals from your suppliers. You can pass on cost savings to undercut your competition or use the higher margins to reinvest in your business.When was the last time you negotiated contracts with your vendors? Did you ask for a better deal? Did you ask for an exclusive deal?

People and culture
What can be said about the people working in your business? Are they the best at what they do? Can anyone else do what your people do? Is the service they provide par excellence? Can they solve problems that nobody else can? Have you built a culture of fun, innovation and meritocracy? What will make your most valued employees leave? 10% more, 50% more? Nobody will leave for money? Do your employees love doing what they are doing and get excited about coming to work each day?

Regulations
Are you taking advantage of regulations and tax laws? Are you in a position to influence how new laws are passed in the country or locality where you do business? Do you think that eCommerce players both in US and India not paying the same taxes as store retail and in early years not having to pay sales tax accelerated their growth? Was it fair? Many a business in India owe their meteoric rise to political connections. Lobbyists for companies in the US seek to achieve the same for their paying clients by influencing laws passed. If you think that regulations have an impact on only large companies, you are mistaken. Knowing local regulations and tax laws thoroughly or hiring people who do can be your ticket to an unfair advantage.

If you are seeking huge rewards and success, you must build an unfair advantage. Does your company have an unfair advantage? If not, what's your plan to build that?

Reach out if you want to put your growth in hyperdrive.