Is your uniqueness still...unique?

What's a clue that it may be time to narrow your focus and specialize in a vertical market?

When your distinctiveness is no longer unique.

Sure, your product or service may be technically very capable, more so than the average company in your category.

But when buyers see you as the same as the rest, you're a commodity.

That's when it's time to shift from a horizontal focus to a vertical focus.

Question to ponder:

👉 Is our distinctiveness still unique, or do we sound like everyone else?

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean when "distinctiveness is no longer unique"?

That whatever once set a business apart has become common enough across competitors that buyers no longer perceive any real difference, even if the underlying capability is still genuinely strong.

Why can a technically capable product or service still be seen as a commodity?

Because technical capability alone doesn't guarantee differentiation. If buyers perceive multiple competitors as equally capable, the actual quality of the work stops mattering as much as price does.

What's the actual signal that it's time to shift from a horizontal to a vertical focus?

Buyers seeing the business as essentially the same as everyone else, a sign that broad, generalist positioning has stopped providing any real differentiation and needs to be replaced with a sharper, vertical-specific focus.

Why does narrowing to a vertical market help solve this commodity perception?

Because deep focus within a specific vertical rebuilds genuine distinctiveness, offering something buyers within that market can't as easily find elsewhere, unlike broad, horizontal positioning that blends into a crowded field.

What's the practical question worth asking to check for this risk?

Whether current distinctiveness is still genuinely unique, or whether the business now sounds indistinguishable from competitors, a direct check on whether commodity perception has already set in.