Remember that term “first mover advantage”? I’m sure you do. And I also suspect you realize that it is pretty much no longer relevant – at least as to how it used to work.

First mover advantage meant that you had years over your competition. You invent your product, sell it to the market and enjoy years free from competition. It took your competitors that long to figure out what you were doing and how you were doing it. Not anymore.

Nowadays, competition sets in within months, weeks, or even days.

But there is still an advantage to being the first mover, and it is respect. The first guy in the industry gets the acknowledgement of customers, even if its just a little extra tip of the hat. By no means is being first to market a significant advantage anymore, but if you play it right, you just may win over a few more clients because, you know, you were first and all.