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patents & barriers to entry
The ideal strategy for building a successful business involves having exclusive rights or exclusive ownership of a certain product design or technology that no other company is allowed to reproduce or sell. If the item is in demand, then a small business can grow into a big, profitable business in a relatively short period of time.
Your small business accountant and business attorney can help you establish patent protections and barriers to entry (from other firms seeking to encroach your market) strategies that will keep your company profitable.
Common tactics for establishing and maintaining a competitive advantage include:
- Patent protection
- Exclusive distribution rights
- Sustainable competitive advantage
Patent protection is a legal mechanism that your business attorney or patent attorney will guide you through. Basically, the Federal Office of Patents determines that your invention is unique and issues you a Patent good for 17 years from date of issue. No other company is allowed to duplicate your technology without your express permission.
Exclusive distribution rights are provided to you by a supplier. Your company is granted the exclusive right to sell a product in (hopefully) high demand within a given geographical area or definable market (for instance, only the marine industry, or only to healthcare professionals).
If your relationships with your supplier are good - and you are an effective distributor of their product… then you may have established a sustainable competitive advantage due to your exclusive distribution rights.
Another sustainable competitive advantage is "branding." Branding is, in essence, a form of mass marketing that establishes a favorable public image toward the brand you are building. Coca Cola is an example of a highly successful brand. Mustang is a successful brand developed by Ford Motor Company. Calvin Klein is widely recognized as a high visibility brand that implies a guarantee of quality and effectiveness to any product it is applied to.
Good brand is best established by quality products and effective marketing. If your marketing efforts successfully establish demand for a "brand" that your company owns - then you will have also established a "sustainable competitive advantage" that makes your company more competitive.
Al Rasch & Associates, business attorneys, have extensive experience in helping small to medium sized Orange County, CA - and Southern California area business gain sustainable competitive advantage with good contracts and agreements… and by guiding them through the branding and patent protection process.
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