The Business Book

166

I F I H A D A S K E D

P E O P L E W H A T

T H E Y W A N T E D ,

166

T H E Y W O U L D H A V E

S A I D F A S T E R H O R S E S

LEADING THE MARKET

B

usiness logic often dictates:

hold back; let someone else

go first, incur the costs, and

make mistakes. But there are many

examples of significant advantages

for companies first off the mark.

A company that leads the way

into a new market gains a

competitive advantage, which

might enable it to dominate over the

long term. Richard Arkwright, the

inventor of the modern factory

system, is an example. He devised

the first complete mechanized

system for the spinning of cotton

yarn in the 18th century in Britain.

His patents were overturned just

five years after they were filed, but

his head start ensured that he

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Market leaders

KEY DATES

1780s British inventor Richard

Arkwright devises a complete

mechanized system for the

production of yarn on an

industrialized scale.

1860s US general Nathan

Bedford Forrest claims the key

to military success is “to get

there first with the most men.”

1989 Dutch businessman Arie

de Geus suggests that a

company’s only sustainable

competitive advantage is its

ability to learn faster than its

competitors.

1994 Al Ries and Jack Trout

publish The 22 Immutable

Laws of Marketing, in which

they outline the advantages of

being first to market.