I originally posted this last year on another blog. Please enjoy if you haven’t read it before.

I was talking with a business owner the other day. Actually, he was talking to me. He was expressing his displeasure about an unknown quasi-competitor that was making inroads into “his” marketplace. How does that happen?

But the conversation got me thinking. General Motors was the #1 automaker when my grandsons were born. GM was #1 when my sons were born. GM was #1 when I was born. GM was #1 when my parents were born. Now, Toyota is #1.

Who did Walmart displace?

Hertz was founded in 1918. Remember the Avis commercials? “#2 tries harder. Along comes Enterprise in 1957 and now has almost as many locations in the US as Hertz and Avis combined.

I’m sure that you can think of many other examples of the underdog doing the unexpected.

Here’s the question. Are you General Motors or Toyota in your marketplace?