Robert Taylor was a creative inventor and leader who started the Minnetonka company in 1964 with a $3,000 investment.
He believed that even a small company could compete with the largest consumer product companies if it had the best product and could get a head start.
Within 15 years, he had successfully launched the first anti-plaque toothpaste and a unique perfume scent named “Obsession.”
But in both cases, the big consumer product companies quickly followed suit and pushed Minnetonka out of the way to forge their own copycat offerings.
So, in 1980, once his company had formulated the first liquid soap in a dispenser, he needed a bigger advantage. Taylor made a bold gamble on what his company decided to call “Softsoap.”
However, Taylor knew his soap and dispenser could easily be copied by the giants. The particular style of pump dispensers had been around for years and couldn’t be patented. So he concluded that the only way to get a big head start was by cornering the market supply of dispenser pumps.
Taylor spent $12 million to purchase 100 million pump dispensers from the only two U.S. manufacturers at the time. This represented more than a year’s production capacity and prevented rivals from releasing a similar liquid soap for nearly two years.
The Softsoap brand quickly dominated the market and established itself as a household name before the competitors could retaliate. Soon thereafter, Colgate-Palmolive was forced to purchase the Softsoap brand in self-defense.
Getting a head start is an essential leadership strategy in any organization or team, no matter what the idea, service, product, or initiative.
The advantages of getting a head start or becoming a “first mover” are obvious, including setting standards, building deeper relationships, negotiating better terms, creating long-term loyalty, and expanding timelines.
Leaders looking to jump ahead of the competition look for opportunities and trends that point to the ways and windows for an early start.
Once they know the time is right to get a head start, the best leaders move quickly to mobilize resources and forge relationships to facilitate their jump ahead. Think about Taylor locking up the dispenser capacity to outsmart the consumer product giants.
The same holds true with projects and assignments. Putting resources together for faster execution is how “first movers” operate. They know that simply being early without strategic execution can lead to over-investment or an unrealistic commitment to a project or offering.
The ability to execute quickly means having the resources and relationships all lined up, ready for a fast break. Good leaders organize themselves and the necessary assets to pounce on the initiative once they decide to move quickly.
Before trying to get a head start, ask yourself what resources and relationships you will need to acquire to gain a significant advantage.
Organizing those assets before jumping ahead is the key to success. Moving faster than everyone else has great upside, but only if the momentum out of the gate can be sustained. The best way to get ahead is to start organizing resources now, before anyone else notices.
When people and resources are behind you, getting a head start is relatively easy.t the 2012 Olympics in London.
