The Second Rat Gets the Cheese
Business is vicious. It used to be that success was achieved by the guys who got there first. If you invented some new mouse trap- then the world would beat a path to your door. To make profits, companies would invent new products and develop new manufacturing methods. Like pioneers blazing new trails across the amber plains, our businesses and industries blazed ahead into the future with visions of inventing the next great advancements for mankind. As these companies strived to stay ahead of their competition, they were rewarded with large profits. They were getting the worms.
The early bird doesn’t get the worm anymore. The business environment has changed, and our industries are being forced to evolve. Being the early bird does not lead to fat worms and large profits. In this modern age we live in, inventing is for suckers !
Information is moving around the world very fast. People are connected, and ideas are transmitted around the world in seconds. As soon as somebody has an advantage, everyone else knows about it. The early bird might still be early, but not by much. In fact, before that bird can even swallow the worm, there is another bird or two in the yard.
Being early in business is not cheap either. Coming to market first requires research and development. R&D is not an exact science; it’s risky and uncertain. Oftentimes, companies find they have dug another dry well in their attempt to find oil.
(I digress about viagara and mynoxidil)
So if being early only gets half a worm, and it takes risk capital to be early– it turns out being the early bird is for the birds.
A better metaphor for business: The Second Rat Gets the Cheese.
The first rat sees the opportunity, the cheese. Eager to feast on the opportunity, the rat moves quickly to beat the competition. Arriving early, and having the market all to himself the rat begins to pre-warn the analysts about next quarter profits.
WHAM! The trap springs, and the rat is slammed with all of the costs of testing, patents, human trials, FDA approval, market research , product packaging, etc. The second rat has the real advantage. Rather than testing and trials, the second rat observes and monitors. He surveys his competition and hires strategist consultants. Avoiding the risky expenses of R&D, the second rat can come into the market place with a better cost structure from the onset.
Nobody cares who was first. Consumer loyalty resides in the better, cheaper product not the product that was first. So it is the second rat who is successful, profitable. As for the first rat… well, you can imagine what happened to him.
Tags: inventions, Second Rat Gets the Cheese, technology