You Aren’t Losing to the Competition. You’re Losing to the System.

thekindconcrete.com

You can have a great product. You can have a fair price. You can have customers who pat you on the back.

And yet… you will go bankrupt. Not slowly. Suddenly.

Why? Because business isn’t a sport where the fastest runner wins. Most people think: "If I just train harder, I’ll win."

Nonsense.

Today, I’m going to show you five hidden forces that decide who actually makes money in a market… and who just burns calories.

This is called the Porter model. But Michael Porter wasn’t just a scientist. He was a guy who asked one brilliant question. He didn’t ask: "How do I beat my competitor?" He asked: "Is this game even designed to be won?"

Let’s check.

Force one. New Entrants. Imagine you open a lemonade stand. It costs you $50 and an hour of work. Success? No. A nightmare. Because if entering your market is cheap, fast, and easy… five neighbours will set up shop right next to you tomorrow. Low barriers to entry are a death sentence. They mean your margins will be eaten alive. The rule is brutal: If anyone can enter the game, no one leaves rich.

Force two. The Power of Buyers. Your customers. We all love customers, right? But let’s be real. If your customer has a lot of choices… If they can walk out your door, cross the street, and buy the exact same thing cheaper… Then you aren’t running this business. They are. They dictate the terms. They drive down the price. They hold the gun. When the customer has the power, your profits disappear.

Force three. Suppliers. Let’s flip the lens. How many suppliers does your life depend on? If there is only one guy selling the key component you need… and he knows it… You have a problem. He raises the price. You cry, and you pay. Because switching is too expensive or impossible. In that scenario, the supplier is the one eating your lunch.

Force four. My favourite. Substitutes. This is the moment you lose without even knowing who you’re fighting. A substitute isn’t a competitor. It’s an alternative. Cinemas didn’t start dying because of other, better cinemas. Cinemas got hit because people chose Netflix on their couch. You don’t lose to a better company. You lose to a more convenient life. The question is: is there something out there that makes your product simply… unnecessary?

And finally, force five. Rivalry. Look at the battlefield. Is your industry peaceful? Or is it a price bloodbath? If the market is growing slowly, and there are too many players, a war of attrition begins. Everyone lowers prices. Everyone burns cash on ads. Who wins? Often, no one. Everyone ends up bruised, working for pennies.

This changes everything, doesn’t it? Most of you think fighting the competition is personal. That it’s about being better than "Company X." No. It’s structural. Porter shows you the map of the minefield. He shows you why in some industries, money is lying on the street, and in others, you bleed out working for minimum wage.

This model won’t tell you what to do. It tells you what you are up against.

So before you quit your job, take out a loan, or try to scale… ask yourself the question most founders are terrified to ask:

"Am I entering a market built for profit… or for struggle?"

Remember PESTEL from last time? That was the weather. That was the outside world. Porter? This is the cage fight. This is the inside world.

Ignore either one, and you’re guessing. Understand both, and you start playing with your eyes open.

Strategy isn’t about working harder. Strategy is about picking the right battle.

Thank you.