Unfair Business Models

The Only Option #

A while ago I took the Amtrack train from Virginia to Florida to move my car. While aboard, I was forced to buy the only food available to me or go hungry. The best thing I could find was an overpriced burger and soda.

Twenty-three dollars later, I wasn’t annoyed though. I smiled. Unfair business positioning has always been funny and quite interesting to me. All those times when you are forced (or felt forced) to buy something because of the lack of better options.

I think most businesses can learn from this. It doesn’t always have to suck like an overpriced burger but businesses really should think about their unfair advantages and how to capitalize on them.

Sometimes this is being an early mover in a space where there are not many incumbents yet. Sometimes it’s about being the only option. With these parameters, you tend to have a lot of latitude when it comes to pricing until a competitor shows up. But there are many cases like on this train where there are no competitors.

Comparison is the Thief of Joy #

When I finally arrived at my destination in Florida I was starving(again) and forced (yet again) to choose between not eating or eating from the pizza truck that was at the station.

That was the best pizza I had in a long time. Or was it? I believe looking back that it was really because I was hungry and had no other options. It makes me think now about other times when I wanted something and felt like I had no other options. And I really couldn’t tell how good the good or service was because there was nothing to compare it to. But because I really needed or wanted it at the time, my entire perception of the experience was warped. “Comparison is the thief of joy,” they say. Then the lack there of comparison must be joy?

Companies create a false sense of urgency all the time with their marketing. “Go with us or else it’s impossible to get what you want.” It’s a play on your emotions as a consumer. Sometimes they’ll even outright lie. The lies more than anything else are the things that gripe me.

Marketing, I believe, does not have to be this dishonest. The best business with the best products will naturally have the advantages simply by being better.

It is still quite funny how very awful solutions tend to be successful because of unfair positioning.