Free E-mail Newsletter Monthly updates on developments affecting small businesses. A business primarily engaged in the sale of products has a focus that is different from that of a service-based business. In a product-based business, customers don't, for the most part, expect extensive personal services to be performed as part of the deal. They want their box of chocolate, or their auto accessory, or their new flight simulator software. In some cases, your business may be the only source for the product.
Some software is available only by mail from the manufacturers.
If you want their product, you buy it from them. At the other extreme are businesses that carry goods that are widely and readily available. The bottle of pop purchased at the convenience store could just as easily have been purchased at the gas station, a vending machine at work, or a deli. This suggests that businesses based on a unique product face a somewhat different environment from that faced by businesses carrying products that are widely available. In the case of a unique product, the competitive advantage your business should enjoy is based on the product itself.