Would you open a bakery in a town where there are already a dozen bakeries? Or would you open a bakery in a town where there are none?
The truth is that when you go to a town where there is nothing of what you already offer, there has to be a process of educating the public and allowing them to understand what you do. You need to let people know that they need you for something specific. And, most importantly, you need to figure out a way to explain what problem you’re solving…
When you go to a town that has the products and services that you offer, then that’s been done for you. Chances are, it’s going to be easier to merge into the market.
One of my mentors always said, “pioneers get shot, settlers stay forever.”
Let’s take a look at some examples:
Myspace and Facebook: Facebook entered the market that already existed. Myspace opened up its doors before Facebook or any other social media, but who talks about Myspace anymore?
AOL, Yahoo, and Google: AOL and Yahoo were the most important search engines, but now 80% of the world’s traffic goes through Google and Facebook. That also includes YouTube and other ancillary companies, but that’s a huge change.
So, I’d love to know if you’ve seen this pattern repeat? Can you think of other examples where pioneers get shot and settlers settle?