Where advantage comes from

• Sharp positioning in a segment where you are the obvious choice.
• Retention economics: low churn and expanding accounts compound value.
• Distribution advantage through channel, product-led growth, or ecosystem.

Recurring challenges

• Crowded categories where differentiation is hard to sustain.
• Acquisition costs that outrun customer lifetime value.
• Feature sprawl that dilutes the product and the message.

Strategic moves to consider

• Narrow the ideal customer profile to sharpen product and message.
• Prioritise retention and expansion over raw acquisition.
• Build a moat through data, integrations, workflow lock-in, or network effects.

Common traps

Adding features to chase every deal weakens the core product and confuses positioning. Durable software strategy concentrates on a segment and a wedge it can defend.