In BBC's Blue Planet series, there is a short segment on land iguanas. Apparently, land iguanas travel a great distance to nest in burrows along the shoreline. When one land iguana arrives too late and all of the burrows are taken, she must challenge another land iguana in order to have a spot to nest. The loser must then leave the burrow and find another place to nest...or another iguana to challenge.
Market leaders are the first iguanas to the burrows. They innovate. They come out with the first products or services and secure their spots in the marketplace. They don't have to worry about there being no market, because they create the market. The challengers are those that follow the market leaders and try to steal their nests. They arrive too late and have to fight in order to steal the market leaders' customers. They create knock-off products or services with different labels but the same functions. If they can outsell the market leaders, they can take the nests for themselves.
What are you? Are you a market leader or a challenger? I don't mean necessarily in business but in all aspects of life. Do you lead or do you follow? Are constantly innovating and developing your skill set or do you simply mimic others and hope to get by? I think we can learn a lesson from land iguanas. Never wait for someone else to get there first!
Don't be afraid to lead. True leaders will never really be challenged, because they will always be one step ahead of the fight. They'll be seeking out a better burrow before the challenger even gets to them. They don't leave the market because they lost but rather because they found something better. True leaders are always on the move. Do you want to be a market leader? Don't wait for someone else to define a market for you. Be the first. Create your own.
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