Rich or Good Looking?

I've always thought it's better to be born rich than good looking.

It's a matter of competitive advantage. Which makes it easier to navigate through life? Money or looks? Besides, if you've got independent wealth you can always have some work done on your homely visage.

Competitive advantage is something everyone seeks. Do you know yours? Are you smarter or faster or stronger? Are you more clever or more patient or more sincere? Have you ever really thought about it? Knowing your competitive advantage is an important part of daily life. If you don't know yours you probably spend more time losing than winning.

For example, I know my competitive advantage is not to be found on the golf course. I'm such a terrible golfer that after three holes or so my companions start to be very nice to me. They begin complimenting me for making mediocre shots because they're mixed in with my lousy ones. It's important that I know that golf is not one of my competitive advantages because I know not to schedule meetings with new clients on the golf course. It is not a dignified place for me to be.

I've been told I'm pretty good in front of a crowd. That means that, if I want to do something better than someone else a speaking engagement would be a good venue. It's a simple tenet: only expend energy on something you're good at…especially in business.

I'm certainly not going to impress anyone with my athletic prowess. That means if you're competing with me for business, and you excel at sports, compete with me in a sports environment. You'll beat me every time. I'm not an avid sports page reader and I can rarely quote statistics. As your competitor, I'm vulnerable in that area, so take advantage.

If you're trying to beat the competition, zero in on his or her weaknesses and using your competitive advantages. It makes sense, but few people practice it. Most people naturally tend to use brawn not brains when approaching a competition. It's easier to out bully someone or out cheat someone, than it is to out clever someone. But out clevering someone is much more enjoyable, and a lot less strenuous.

In order to discover you competitive advantage (which changes constantly depending on circumstances) you have to understand your adversary as well as you understands yourself. You can't take advantage of someone else's weaknesses unless you know what they are. You have to study your competition and find something about them that you can successfully attack.

Businesses will always tend to promote what they think is their competitive advantage. That's good because they're telling you what they think their competitive advantages are. What didn't they advertise? Price? Variety? Hours?

Even the best businesses have weaknesses that you can exploit. Since you have a small business, you actually possess built-in advantages that your larger competition cannot possibly match. Personal service is one. Custom orders is another. Boutique merchandise. Nicer shopping experience. Less legwork to find things. Which do you offer?
There is an interesting competitive advantage battle going on right now between two behemoths: Kentucky Fried Chicken and Subway. KFC is on the attack. It's calling itself the "unsub". KFC has a brand new competitive advantage and it's going to town with it.

I don't know what took them so long, but KFC is finally offering a non-fried product. I love KFC but rarely ate it because it's deep-fried. Subway, on the other hand, has always had a competitive advantage with its low calorie sandwiches. They actually have us believing that you can lose weight on a Subway diet. And it's true, the low fat and low calorie content of Subway sandwiches stands out in the fast food marketplace.

Subway led the pack with its $5 footlong sandwich and virtually every one of their competitors had to meet the price. Why? Because they couldn't allow Subway to have such a significant competitive advantage.

But along comes KFC and trumps Subway at its own game. Not only is it touting the healthy nature of its broiled chicken (which I think is a welcome addition to my lunch choices) but also it priced the meal at $5…INCLUDING A DRINK. Take That Subway!

Now Subway has a dilemma. It needs to meet and exceed KFC's newly assumed advantage. What will it do? Will we be able to get a drink with our footlong? Or will they come up with something that will strike at the heart of KFC's vulnerability?

If you were Subway right now, what would you be doing? You'd be studying KFC's operation closely to find a new weakness. There must be something. When comparing the entire Subway experience with the KFC experience, what's the difference?

No matter what business you may be in, the approach is the same. What do you have or do that's better than what your competition does? There must be something. Sometimes, you just have to create an advantage simply so you can exploit it. Certainly, KFC added the drink to its promotion for the specific reason that Subway did not. They came up with an advantage by studying what Subway wasn't doing. Next, Subway will do the same and the game will continue.

I'm not much better at tennis than I am at golf, but I do have to say that, for the moment, it's "advantage KFC".

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