Way to Business Success: The Importance of Being First
Philadelphia is the home of the Liberty Bell and one of the largest cities in the US. But for me, the most impressive thing is how many firsts it’s achieved.
The Athens of America
Philadelphia is the state of America’s first hospital, first library, first stock exchange and first business school. That’s just the start of the list. There are many others that it has achieved.
Knowledge, health and wealth all benefited from what Philadelphia created, and this is a question I often ask myself: how important is it to be first?
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How Important Is It to Be First?
It’s cool to get your name in a book or be the first record holder for a business, but do you really need to create something completely new to succeed? It’s a tough question, but my gut feeling is yes, you do, to be honest.
You don’t have to be an inventor or a creator. We don’t all work like that, but you really do need to offer something that’s unique and different that no one else does, and that means doing something new.
Being New Is Not Enough
Don’t get me wrong. Just being new is not enough. You still need to be good at business, but finding the one solution that nobody else has and that will create more value is what you really want.
Plenty of great innovation comes this way. Look at Netflix for instance. They could not have competed with Blockbuster by just opening up the DVD rental place. They needed a new approach. It’s the same for Uber, Taxis, Airbnb, etc.
So have a think about it. Where can you be first in your industry? How can you change around the way that you do business?
What Can You Do and Achieve?
I think it’s iconic being here at the Rocky Steps talking about sort of achievements and things that are being done. It gives you a sense of what you can do and what you can achieve and even though it’s just a movie, it’s still exciting. Exciting to sort of think about what you can do and where you can go in the future. Really important that you just set yourself a goal that separates yourself apart from everyone else.
Market Your Business
Make sure you market your business appropriately so that everyone understands what the offering is that you have and how that’s different to anyone else. You can be a plumber and a plumber’s perfectly fine, and a plumber can do anything from changing a hot water system to putting in a new pipe or new powerful fitting. But the big difference is if you say you’re a hot water specialist, people are going to assume that you’re going to be better at putting in hot water systems than anyone else.
Make sure that you separate yourself apart from your competitors and keep yourself fresh, new and exciting.
