First Mover Advantage – Online Best Practices Tools & Templates from upBOARD

First Mover Advantage describes the dominant position held by the organization who puts a product or service on the market before their competitors. Advantage is achieved because the organization is able to establish themselves as the originator of the product or service and  institute customer loyalty before competitors enter the marketplace. While competing companies will try to gain market share by improving on the initial innovation, the first mover is able to maintain the larger share because they have an unwavering customer base.

While the First Mover has many benefits, there are also various challenges with being a first mover:

Benefits:

• Brand Name Recognition: When customers know the organization, it puts the company in a good position to create a wide variety of products and services that will be appealing to a big portion of the market based on the name alone. Further, knowledge of an organization helps foster customer loyalty and can draw appeal for new customers.
• Economies of Scale: Because the first moving organization is the first to create the product or service, they typically have a longer period of time to develop their product, which allows them to determine more cost-efficient ways of creating the innovation before it has to compete with other organizations.
• Switching Costs: Being the first mover helps to secure customer loyalty because when a customer has purchased the product or service, they tend not to switch because of the costs involved in doing so.

Disadvantages:

• Copying & Duplication: Being the first to put a product or service on the market puts the company in a position to have their work replicated and improved upon. Some of the organization’s market share might be more vulnerable as a result.
• Oversights: In an attempt to be the first company to sell their product or service, features of the innovation might be inadvertently left out because not enough thought was given to the design or implementation. If the market desires these features, it makes the company more susceptible to customer loss when competitors enter the market.

The tools managers can use to guide their employees through defining and communicating their First Mover Advantage strategies are most presentations, spreadsheets, and other strategic documents.

Unlike most traditional First Mover Advantage processes, upBOARD’s online First Mover Advantage tools allow any team or organization to instantly begin working with our web templates and input forms. Our digital platform goes far beyond other software tools by including progress dashboards, data integration from existing documents or other SaaS software, elegant intuitive designs, and full access on any desktop or mobile device.

Learn more about upBOARD’s full portfolio of online digital best practice tools and templates for specific topics, including business strategy, marketing, human resources, operations, innovation, project management, change management, and software development.

Learn more about upBOARD’s portfolio of other business strategy best practice tools and templates, including:

2 X 2 Matrix, ADL Matrix, Affinity Diagrams, Baker’s 4 Strategies of Influence, Balanced Scorecard, Benchmarking, Blue Ocean Strategy, Bowman Strategy Clock, Build-Measure-Learn Feedback Loop, Business Model Canvas, CAGE Distance Framework, Competitive Analysis, Competitive Landscape Analysis, Contingency Planning, Core Competence Analysis, Critical Success Factors, Discovery Driven Planning, Economic Value Added, First Mover Advantage, Five Forces Model, Force Field Analysis, Gap Analysis, GE McKinsey 9-Box Matrix, Go To Market Strategy, Hambrick & Frederickson’s Strategy Diamond, Hedgehog Model, Hook Model of Behavioral Design, Hoshin Planning System, Kay’s Distinctive Capabilities Framework, Key Outcome Indicators, Kotler’s Five Product Levels Model, Kotler’s Pricing Strategies, Lafley & Martin’s Five Step Strategy Model, McKinsey 7S Model, McKinsey’s Seven Degrees of Freedom for Growth, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mission Statements, Mullin’s Seven Domains Model, OGSM Framework, Ohmae’s 3-C’s Model, Partner Relationship Management, PEST Analysis, PESTLE Analysis, Porter’s Diamond, Portfolio Management, Purpose Statements, Pyramid of Purpose, Scenario Planning, Simonson & Rosen’s Influence Mix, SMART Performance Metrics, SMARTER Goals, SOAR, Strategic Goals, Strategy Map, Strategy Roadmap, Strategy Uncertainty Map, SWOT Analysis, TOWS Matrix, Triple Bottom Line, USP Analysis, Value Chain Analysis, Value Disciplines Model, Value Net Model, Values Statement, Vision Statements, VRIO Analysis, and Weisbord’s Six-Box Model.