How fierce competition transforms from a frightening obstacle into a market signal that accelerates growth.
What if I told you that the best entrepreneurial advice in the business world today is advice you will not read in the pages of the WSJ and will not hear in Warren Buffett's talks — but you will learn it from an Arabic poem, written by Antarah in the heat of his battles?
Imagine you are about to open a restaurant you hope will succeed. Since you are a realist who does not care for rosy ambitions, you will search for an ideal location to launch. Surely, with the sprawling outskirts of Riyadh, you will find a corner where the giants have not yet tightened their grip — or so you thought.
What you want is to open a branch for your new restaurant concept under a brand that no one knows but you. You are searching for a strategic location that naturally attracts visitors from your target audience, and it is essential that it be free of the giant competitors whose established prestige will overpower your fragile brand.
Let me cut to the chase: you will not find a perfectly ideal location. These are trade-offs you must accept. There is a strategic location that is not busy today, and a busy location that is about to lose its strategic value. There is a location that attracts the target audience but is swarming with competitors, and another free of competitors but also free of customers. So what do you do then?
Let us picture one of these locations. Say you have found fertile ground to plant your venture — a strategic point in northern Riyadh with bustling crowds all around. And because perfection is unattainable, you are stunned by those red pillars and golden arches directly across the street. At a glance, you find a queue of parked cars and a parade of hungry masses flocking to it — naturally, for the world's number one fast food chain: McDonald's.
Do not let those golden arches or french fries stop your launch — what blocks your path accelerates your pace, and whoever stands in the way becomes the way!
Will you gaze at your secret recipes and bold spices as your dreams turn cold? Will you postpone the project indefinitely, since there is no point launching here to compete with a giant like McDonald's?
I am not here to write motivational quotes or push you to gamble on your luck. But I am an entrepreneur like you, and I hate to see an opportunity wasted even if I do not profit from it. So I tell you what Emperor Marcus said, paraphrased: do not let those golden arches or french fries stop your launch — what blocks your path accelerates your pace, and whoever stands in the way becomes the way!
McDonald's founder Ray Kroc once stood in your exact position. He wanted to open his next McDonald's branch, and it led him to owning the most powerful fast food chain in the world. His golden arches became a symbol of globalization taught in every school textbook. In fact, the presence of McDonald's in two countries today is considered a geopolitical barrier that prevents military conflicts between them.
What led him there? It was the belief that the obstacle is the way. Kroc's obstacle was rapid expansion, so he pivoted from selling hamburgers to trading real estate — searching in every state for the optimal strategic location to buy land that would become an exclusive site for those wanting to open McDonald's franchise branches. You can rest assured today in choosing to neighbor the red giant, for its branches have become a stamp of approval for your startup's next ideal location.
If competition is what worries you, remember the last time you decided to have a Big Mac. Did you search for a specific McDonald's branch to visit? Or did you look for the nearest one to order from? Do we even memorize McDonald's locations? Or do we order from whichever one we are near, fully confident in the quality and taste we will receive?
When you neighbor a packed restaurant, you enter a race to poach its loyal customers. But when you neighbor a McDonald's branch, you are showcasing your product in an ideal location for the target audience — based on the red giant's own assessment — and capturing customers whose loyalty is not to that branch but to the chain. This means its customers come from the neighborhood, while yours come from all across the city searching for your unique food. And when a customer finds that the McDonald's branch is packed or their ice cream machine is broken, they will find no better option than you.
When choosing the location for your next branch, remember not to be intimidated by the crowd of competitors — they are merely an obstacle to arrival that accelerates your steps, and a hurdle in the road that will become the road itself. The wise entrepreneur takes his advice from the words of Antarah: "And if the coward warns you on the day of battle, fearing for you the crush of the legion... defy his counsel and pay it no heed, and advance when the clash is joined at the front!"
Where should you open your new business?
Leveraging existing foot traffic and entering direct competition.
Owning a new area with no direct competition.
Verdict:
As Antarah says: "And if the coward warns you on the day of battle, fearing for you the crush of the legion... defy his counsel and pay it no heed." The perfect location doesn't exist — but the smart one does. Find the weak competitor surrounded by loyal customers, and be the better alternative.
Worked as a cup salesman then milkshake mixer salesman. Didn't own a single restaurant.
How fierce competition transforms from a frightening obstacle into a market signal that accelerates growth.
This article is useful for business leaders and execution teams operating in Article in the Saudi market.
The next step is to convert insights into a clear execution checklist, align priorities with available resources, and start with the highest-impact move.
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