As an entrepreneur, you’re probably often told how it’s important to be the first person to do things. After all, if you set the trends, then you immediately remove the problem of trying to find a niche or anything that involves breaking into a tough industry. The business world, as you’re often told, wants you to be a first mover.

There are good examples that have proven why it’s important to be the first at accomplishing or introducing something: Gillette was the first to offer safety razors; Sony was the first to introduce personal stereos; Coca-Cola was the first to offer soft drinks. These have since established themselves as household names. But when you look throughout history, this hasn’t always been the case. First movers haven’t always been assured success despite heading something new or even revolutionary.

If you want an example, look no further than your phone. The very thing you have in your hands is a combination of so many first movers whose efforts fell short of really making it big. Maybe you remember the Palm Pilot, the first personal digital assistant where you needed a stylus to interact with the screen. Or maybe you remember Netscape, the first-ever internet browser, or how about Alta Vista, the world’s first search engine? If none of those rings a bell, you might remember Friendster, the first experience with social media network for so many of us.

All of those things I listed? They’re gone. Dead. And all the things that overtook them can be found in your smartphone. So, what went wrong with these first movers?

The Power of First Improvers

The answer lies in many first movers’ inability or even lack of foresight to offer sustainable, consistently relevant solutions.

Now this is where the first improvers come in. Who are they? They are the Google of search engines, or the Facebook of social media. These are the innovations that built on what a first mover had, and also what a first mover then failed to offer.

This mindset of being the first improver isn’t just seen in business. My kids once shared with me a funny Tweet that asked, “Why does no one laugh at my jokes until someone says it again, but louder?” Sounds funny, but I think there’s a lot of truth to it. In fact, it is historically more likely to succeed as a first improver than as a first mover.

So how do you become one?

Find, Fix and Fulfill

Being a first improver requires two things – patience and creativity.

You need to be patient in order to be a first improver. You need to observe and pay attention to what’s happening around you – be it trends, new directions in which ideas are being taken, or gaps you could potentially fill. This is the way that you can find flaws or ways to improve businesses that already exist. If you don’t have patience and go at things immediately too often, then you’re setting yourself up to be another obsolete business. To be a first improver, you need to hone your observational skills and attention to detail.

Next, you need a lot of creativity. There are many ways to solve the problems you see in businesses, but the strength of your ideas could easily lie in the meaning or promise on which your solutions are built. Find an offering that may still be lacking, ideate on ways you can fix it, with the main goal of fulfilling a promise – it could be as straightforward as making something safer, greener, or easier to use.

For example, dating app Bumble, which lets women be the first to send a message, started as an improvement of the dating app Tinder after Bumble’s CEO Whitney Wolfe, who previously worked at Tinder, saw how women were treated on the platform. Wolfe launched Bumble in 2014 with the promise of a safer dating experience for women. Sometimes the things that need improving come from your personal experience and what you know others would similarly like to see or could benefit from.

Once you figure these things out, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you can create a business that will one day change the world.

You’ve made the first move by reading this blog, now take that step for improvement and watch this video too: First Mover vs First Improver

To your success,

Mario

[Visit www.mariosingh.com now to enjoy a FREE e-book of my latest “37 Essential Principles for Massive Success” when you subscribe!]