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CHAPTER 3 THE MILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS IDEA

delivered, they would be getting a soggy pie. Dominoes
knew that if they could find a way to deliver their pizza
fresh and fast and guarantee such a speedy delivery, they
would have a truly unique competitive advantage.

So, they spent time developing a system where they are
able to receive the (phone) order, cook and deliver the
pizza all within 30 minutes. This became their trade secret/
specialized knowledge. By creating the selling proposition
of ‘Your Pizza delivered within 30 minutes or your money
back,’ Dominoes enjoys huge profits in an industry that is
extremely competitive.

The Federal Express (FedEx) Story

When Fred Smith (a Yale graduate) wrote a term paper
about his idea of starting a postal company, his professor
gave him a ‘C’ grade and everyone thought he was crazy.
The postal market was dominated by the US Mail service
run by the government and prices were very competitive,
making profits very low.

However, Fred Smith knew that he could build a billion dollar
company and take away market share if he could build a
unique competitive advantage around a key frustration that
most people had in sending mail and packages.

He found that the biggest complaint that people had was
the lack of efficiency. If you wanted to send a package via
the US mail service, it would take at least 3 days within the
USA and at least 4-5 days outside the USA. And delivery
was not even guaranteed. There was no way you could send
a package on a particular day and expect it to arrive at its
destination the next day.

88 SECRETS OF BUILDING MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BUSINESSES