Page 240 - ENTREPRENEURSHIP Innovation and entrepreneurship

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18

Ecological Niches

The entrepreneurial strategies discussed so far, being “Fustest with the
Mostest,” creative imitation, and entrepreneurial judo, all aim at market or
industry leadership, if not at dominance. The “ecological niche” strategy aims
at control. The strategies discussed earlier aim at positioning an enterprise in a
large market or a major industry. The ecological niche strategy aims at obtain-
ing a practical monopoly in a small area. The first three strategies are compet-
itive strategies. The ecological niche strategy aims at making its successful
practitioners immune to competition and unlikely to be challenged. Successful
practitioners of “Fustest with the Mostest,” creative imitation, and entrepre-
neurial judo become big companies, highly visible if not household words.
Successful practitioners of the ecological niche take the cash and let the credit
go. They wallow in their anonymity. Indeed, in the most successful of the eco-
logical niche strategies, the whole point is to be so inconspicuous, despite the
product’s being essential to a process, that no one is likely to try to compete.
There are three distinct niche strategies, each with its own require-
ments, its own limitations, and its own risks:

• the toll-gate strategy;
• the specialty skill strategy; and
• the specialty market strategy.

I

THE TOLL-GATE STRATEGY
Earlier, in Chapter 4, I discussed the strategy of the Alcon Company,
which developed an enzyme to eliminate the one feature of the standard
surgical operation for senile cataracts that went counter to the rhythm
and the logic of the process. Once this enzyme had been devel-
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