Why Arriving Late has its Own Advantages | Entrepreneur (2024)

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"You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. And I promise you, something great will come of it." - Benjamin Mee

Most startups are born from the belief of a handful of individuals with the courage to risk and dive into a series of challenges, overcome them and establish a new firm. The early entrants to any industry often boast of the advantages of being the first movers. However, in a product and performance-driven market, the advantages are limited. It's quite shocking that some of the biggest global brands like Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft etc. were not the first movers in their respective segments. Instead, they benefitted by stepping on the innovations of their counterparts and building much better products that instantly drew a lot of attention. Although they were late entrants, the firms made it big by covering up the gaps, assessing the market, delivering a better product and offering an enhanced customer service.

For late movers such as these, some of the advantages that come with starting second are mentioned below:

Learn from Others Experiences

Market research is the first and most important step before setting up a business. Most firms spend a huge amount of money in studying markets and finding out what works best. First movers spend a large part of their initial planning time, effort, money and resources to assess how their audience will respond to the idea of a product and its offering, and the counterparts that follow usually have a study they can derive experience from. This gives them a chance to fill the gaps that exist in the prior offering and work on them to develop a smarter and more worthwhile product, thus saving a lot of money in primary stages and saving it for future use. In simple words, the cost of imitation will always be lower than that of innovation, and this is what late movers benefit from.

Understand the Evolving Needs of the Customer

Late movers are able to create a more useful product as they can comply with the evolving needs of a consumer, from the time a new product is introduced in the market to when the audience actually starts to engage with it and respond to it. These startups can learn from the mistakes made by existing players and identify what works and what doesn't for their target audience. Furthermore, late entrants don't have to generate fresh demand, they simply leverage from the existing buzz that has been created, improvise on it and carry it forward.

Create a Better Product

A late entrant is able to avoid the obvious mistakes of not understanding customer perception by reading well into the growth phase of its competition. They can position themselves correctly and channel investment to create and deliver a better "perceived" product. This also saves a lot of time and takes the responsibility to define a segment or product off their list, giving them the liberty to add and redefine the same for consumers.

Catering to the Demands

First movers don't have an incentive to innovate, whereas the urge to compete and succeed based on diversity encourages the later movers to continuously evolve and come up with a great product. As quoted by Gautam Anand, Hubhopper's Founder and CEO, "From the very beginning we've been focused on putting power into our users' hands and customising our app to their tastes. Without losing sight of this and by constantly innovating our approach to this end, we've been able to draw in consumers looking for that personal touch in their content experience".

To put it in a nutshell, late movers are able to succeed - at the very least - by identifying the mistakes made by the innovators and learn from them. It doesn't end there; they are further required to incorporate the learnings into their style of working to come out with a flawless product. Undoubtedly, it's the smartest way to reduce risk, save money and time, and make it big in the market.

Why Arriving Late has its Own Advantages | Entrepreneur (2024)

FAQs

Why Arriving Late has its Own Advantages | Entrepreneur? ›

A late entrant is able to avoid the obvious mistakes of not understanding customer perception by reading well into the growth phase of its competition. They can position themselves correctly and channel investment to create and deliver a better "perceived" product.

What are the advantages of the late mover theory? ›

The late-mover advantage means that followers can learn from pioneers' mistakes, see whether there is a market worth entering and judge consumers' tastes.

What is an example of a successful late mover? ›

Kodak, for example, was labeled a very late mover in the inkjet printer market when the company decided to enter this market with its own brand of inkjet printer many years after numerous other firms had established strong footholds in the market.

What are some of the advantages of entering a market early are there any advantages of entering a market late? ›

Being the first to enter a market often allows a firm to create high brand awareness and customer loyalty before competitors enter the fray. Other benefits include more time to refine its product or service and the ability to decide the market price for the new item.

What is an example of a second mover advantage? ›

Examples of second-mover advantage

Today, smartphones are a common product among consumers and have advanced capabilities that rely on internet access. Providers continually enter the market and attempt to build increasingly complex devices that anticipate user needs.

Can a late mover have any strategic advantage with it? ›

“Late mover” is a term used for describing a business approach which waits and see for a while to enter the market and then enter with a new business concept. A late mover can have strategic advantages as it was proved by one of the airlines companies called as JetBlue.

What are first mover and late mover advantages? ›

While first movers have the advantage of establishing themselves as the market leader, late movers have the advantage of learning from the mistakes of the first mover and improving upon their offerings.

Is it better to be a late mover than a first mover into a market? ›

Later entrants can avoid mistakes made by the first mover. If the first mover is unable to capture consumers with their products, later entrants can take advantage of this. Later entrants can reverse-engineer new products and make them better or cheaper.

Is it better to be a first mover a fast follower or a late mover? ›

Fast Followers can leverage off the research that has already been invested in by the First Mover so their time to market is faster and their research & development costs are usually lower. That said, the First Mover will set the benchmark for their particular market.

What is a benefit of being a late mover into a foreign market quizlet? ›

Late movers can build precious relationships with key stakeholders such as customers and governments.

What is the strategy of late entry market? ›

The most obvious strategy for late entrants is to gain market share by entering at a price that is lower than that established by existing competitors.

How should you maximize late mover advantage? ›

Late mover advantage is based on utilizing the knowledge regarding reducing manufacturing costs of the product for maximum organization benefits. Thus, it can also focus on developing a suitable product or service that can target maximum consumers and work as an appealing factor.

What is the difference between early entrant and late entrant? ›

Entrants are often divided into three categories: first movers (or pioneers), which are the first to sell in a new product or service category; early followers (also called early leaders), which are early to the market but not first; and late entrants, which enter the market when or after the product begins to ...

What are the three first-mover advantages? ›

What is the first-mover advantage? The first-mover advantage is the benefit of increased brand recognition , customer loyalty and increased sales that often accompany a business that is the first to enter the marketplace with a new product.

What is the difference between first and second mover advantage? ›

Second-mover advantage occurs when a firm following the lead of the first-mover is actually able to capture greater market share, despite having entered late. First-mover firms often face high research and development costs, and the marketing costs necessary to educate the public about a new type of product.

What are first movers second movers late movers? ›

Second-movers are the followers who enter a market later than the first- mover; i.e. the early follower, the late follower, the differentiated follower and the me-too follower. First-mover advantage is defined as the advantage, which gives the first-mover a competitive advantage by being the first- mover.

What is the risk of late mover? ›

Late Mover Theory Disadvantages

A significant risk of late mover theory is creating a product that can potentially alienate customers if added features are superfluous rather than necessary.

What are the risks and rewards for early and late movers? ›

The risks and rewards for both early and late movers is to determine the conversion of rewards into risks. Both of these are mainly dependent on some factors which includes competitive advantage, differentiation in technology, local conditions and regulations resources, business sector and time.

Why is a first mover so successful? ›

A first mover is a service or product that gains a competitive advantage by being the first to market with a product or service. Being first typically enables a company to establish strong brand recognition and customer loyalty before competitors enter the arena.

What is a fast mover vs late mover? ›

Further, a fast mover may be defined as a business that implements the practices and findings of other companies quickly after they are launched by a first mover. The third type of market competitors is a late mover. Apparently, this company is the last one that represents a particular product or service.

What are two first mover disadvantages? ›

First-Mover Disadvantage: 9 Reasons Why Being First to Market Doesn't Pay Off
  • Everyone goes after the first movers. ...
  • Being first is expensive. ...
  • There's no prior experience to fall back on. ...
  • All your eggs are in one basket. ...
  • Someone has to pay for the up-front investments. ...
  • Regulatory resistance. ...
  • Complacency.

Which of the following is a first-mover advantage? ›

An advantage of being a first mover is that: there is an opportunity to increase sales volume ahead of rivals.

Do you think that the timing of entry is important when entering a foreign market? ›

One important dimension of the process of internationalisation is the timing of entry. It is often maintained that high-tech markets are highly internationalised. Competition and industry structures are global in scope.

What is the most successful market entry strategy? ›

Direct exporting is often considered the default choice for new market entry. Direct exporters often sell directly to a consumer (B2C), a business (B2B), or a distributor in a foreign country.

Which entry strategy is the least profitable? ›

Licensing/Franchising

This method does contain some risks. It's typically the least profitable method for entering a foreign market, and it entails a long-term commitment.

Which market entry strategy is better to enter in foreign market? ›

Exporting is the direct sale of goods and / or services in another country. It is possibly the best-known method of entering a foreign market, as well as the lowest risk.

What is late entry in a selected foreign market? ›

Late entry is the second company on the market that enters the market by imitating the early entry. It is easier to capture a large market share because late entry knows the mistakes of the early entry and develop the ways to avoid them.

What does late entrant mean in business? ›

Late Entrant means an employee or dependent who does not enroll during the initial period in which he or she is eligible to enroll, or during a special enrollment period when there is a change in family status or loss of coverage under another plan.

What do you mean by early mover advantage? ›

What Kind of First-Mover Advantage? A first-mover advantage can be simply defined as a firm's ability to be better off than its competitors as a result of being first to market in a new product category.

What is a fast follower? ›

A Fast Follower is a company that quickly imitates the innovations of it's competitors by collecting research and data.

What is the last mover advantage? ›

the advantage that a company has when it is the last to introduce a new product, service, or technology, because it can learn from developments that have taken place, or from what others have done: They took advantage of ever-accelerating advances in technology to capture what is called the last-mover advantage.

Is it normal for movers to be late? ›

There are tons of reasons why your movers could be late. They could be stuck in bad traffic, they might have accidentally gone to the wrong address, the truck might have gotten a flat tire. Even the most reputable moving companies can encounter a few bumps in the road, so to speak.

Do I tip movers twice? ›

Be sure to tip each team separately, with each getting half the amount. In the case of the $3,000 move, you should tip the movers $225 to $300 at your old home and the same amount at the new place. And be sure your tip is in cash.

What is the failure of first movers? ›

In entrepreneurship, one of the most prevalent myths is that first movers win. The reality is that first-movers seldom win. Among first-movers, 50% failed and only about 11% had the largest market share and dominated. Early entrants, or fast followers, often did better.

What are the pros and cons of first-mover advantage? ›

The advantages of first movers include time to develop economies of scale—cost-efficient ways of producing or delivering a product. The disadvantages of first movers include the risk of products being copied or improved upon by the competition. Amazon and eBay are examples of companies that enjoy first-mover status.

What is the disadvantage of late mover in business? ›

Late Mover Theory Disadvantages

As with anything, there are also potential risks and disadvantages. Because it is a late-comer into the market, it does not have established brand association. If proper research into the market is not done, it can also be attempting to capitalize on a dying product in general.

How can late entrants gain market dominance? ›

Low Price Advantage

The most obvious strategy for late entrants is to gain market share by entering at a price that is lower than that established by existing competitors.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of entering foreign markets? ›

Competing in international markets involves important opportunities and daunting threats. The opportunities include access to new customers, lowering costs, and diversification of business risk. The threats include political risk, economic risk, and cultural risk.

What are the three first mover advantages? ›

What is the first-mover advantage? The first-mover advantage is the benefit of increased brand recognition , customer loyalty and increased sales that often accompany a business that is the first to enter the marketplace with a new product.

What causes first mover advantages? ›

First movers have advantages because they know more about their market before entering it. This enables them to identify and react much faster than potential entrants and competitors. That's because they need time to gather information and decide their entry or exit.

Who has first-mover advantage? ›

The first-mover advantage describes companies that are first to market, which gives them a competitive advantage over other companies, resources, or technologies that follow. Brand leadership and loyalty are usually awarded to first movers, but they must continue to evolve to avoid being surpassed by competitors.

Why are moving companies always late? ›

There are tons of reasons why your movers could be late. They could be stuck in bad traffic, they might have accidentally gone to the wrong address, the truck might have gotten a flat tire. Even the most reputable moving companies can encounter a few bumps in the road, so to speak.

What is one disadvantage of late rising? ›

Many jobs left unfinished as he starts late. He is always behind his time. Such a man can't be successful in life.

What is the disadvantage of first movers? ›

First-Mover Disadvantage: 9 Reasons Why Being First to Market Doesn't Pay Off
  • Everyone goes after the first movers. ...
  • Being first is expensive. ...
  • There's no prior experience to fall back on. ...
  • All your eggs are in one basket. ...
  • Someone has to pay for the up-front investments. ...
  • Regulatory resistance. ...
  • Complacency.

What are some examples of first movers who failed? ›

10 first-to-market losers >
  • Friendster. Despite what you may have heard, Friendster still exists, and is incredibly popular. ...
  • Palm. Once upon a time, 'palm pilot' was a generic term for PDAs; such was Palm's early dominance of the field. ...
  • Netscape. ...
  • WebCrawler And Friends. ...
  • Tivo. ...
  • Saehan and Rio. ...
  • Betamax. ...
  • Atari.
Dec 1, 2009

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