Broadening the Extent of Advantage

Extending a competitive advantage requires... looking instead at the special skills and resources that underlie a competitive advantage.

Extending an existing competitive advantage brings it into new fields and new competitions.  For example, cell phone banking is a goring phenomenon outside of the United States, especially in the less developed countries.  EBay holds substantial skills in payment systems embedded in its PayPal business.  If EBay could build on these to create a competitive advantage in cell phone payment systems, it would be extending a competitive advantage.

Extending a competitive advantage requires looking away from products, buyers, and competitors and looking instead at the special skills and resources that underlie a competitive advantage.  In other words, "Build on your strengths."

ACTION POINT: Identify your strengths and build on them.