How can your company stand out in the sea of competition?
A business should strive to become a monopoly for long-term growth. However, you are not allowed to do so.
Therefore, you should establish a monopoly position in target audiences’ mind.
I will go through the steps in this article.

Positioning: What is it?
The simple answer to this question is sticking into target audience’s mind as a solution.
For example, when you are craving Japanese food, which restaurant in your area comes into your mind? One or more Japanese restaurants must have appeared in your mind. If you don’t have a priority, then these restaurants have encountered a positioning problem.
Next, if this position (Japanese restaurant) has already been taken in prospects’ mind by a competitor, what do you do?
Become another solution in target’s mind.
In this case, let’s position the Japanese restaurant as a business offering unbeatable services. People who rank service as a top reason for going to a restaurant would consider this Japanese restaurant (this doesn’t mean you should overlook the taste of the food.)
Your target customers are people who value good services as well as tasty foods. You should focus on promoting your business as a service-centered Japanese restaurant.
Keep in mind:
Focus on a niche.

Positioning: How do you position your brand?
One of the cardinal rule for positioning is creating differentiation.
Let’s go back to the Japanese restaurant example.
For a Japanese restaurant, what position do you want to own in your prospects’ mind?
The new position could a disadvantage of a competitor’s position.
You can begin by conducting a survey or an interview, asking them why do they come to a particular restaurant, on what occasion, etc. As an alternative, you can also conduct a secondary research by taking a look at reviews of your competitors on Yelp or Google Business. Read the reviews and you will see pros and cons posted by customers, singling out the ones that are frequently mentioned. Furthermore, you can also read my article about tools used for conducting competitor analysis for your research.
If you hardly find a decent niche, what do you do?
Take a look at the big picture of the business world. What do people want in general?
You must at least be a fan of a company or a product. Take Amazon, for example, why do you use it?
The most important reason for me is its customer service; for some other people, it could be the speed of delivery.
Speed.
This one is a general demand for people. Can you apply the demand to a restaurant?
Yes. Fast food.
Can you also position a Japanese restaurant as a Japanese restaurant serving food in a lighting speed (not lighting, but you get the idea)?
Why not. In fact, that’s how loads of innovative business emerge.
When selecting a niche, keep in mind:
Select a niche with a high or moderately high demand.
This will determine your business’ initial growth rate.
After your business has hit the growth stage, you can expand your products or services.
What else can you position your business?
Here’s the list:
1. Customer service: Zappos
2. Speed: Amazon Prime
3. Product size: Poland Spring (mini bottles)
4. Product gender
5. Product design: Beats
6. Age group
7. Price: high-end or regular price
8. Time of use: Always
9. Feature
10. Package design: Arizona
11. Occupations: student vs. specific field professionals
12. Products with low price-performance ratio
…the list is going to be updated.

Positioning: How do you maintain a market leader position?
What you shouldn’t do?
Trying to be a one-stop solution.
Your business is thriving; you are adding product lines and more services. Customers are confusing.
Remember, if you are trying to please every customer, you are pleasing no one.
Instead, you should add a new brand for your new product.

