My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
The Cereal Aisle Positioning Framework
A visual framework for understanding market positioning using a grocery store cereal aisle as a two-axis model where products are arranged left-to-right (least healthy to most healthy) and top-to-bottom (adult to kid-focused)
How It Works
Every product must find its position in a market grid defined by key differentiating axes. Companies can identify white space by mapping where competitors sit and finding unoccupied positions that still serve real customer needs
Components
Identify the two most important differentiation axes in your market
Map all major competitors on this two-dimensional grid
Look for empty quadrants or underserved positions
Validate that empty positions represent real customer needs
Design product/service to own that specific position
Use positioning to make competitors' strengths become their limiting boxes
When to Use
When entering crowded markets, repositioning existing products, or identifying competitive opportunities in any industry with multiple differentiation axes
When Not to Use
In completely new markets with no established competitors, or when dealing with truly commoditized products with no meaningful differentiation possible
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
Example
“ESPN dominates sports media by appealing to everyone. A new sports company could position itself in the 'young audience, irreverent content' quadrant, making ESPN's broad appeal their limiting factor since they can't use youth slang without alienating older viewers”