Achieving staying power in a crowded market

Every sector in its earliest days looks different than when it has matured years later. Sometimes change can take several decades to truly set in; it may take place over several years; most recently, we observed substantial change in just 18 months as the pandemic accelerated certain trends—like the shift to e-commerce—and pushed rapid adoption into a short amount of time.

Business models evolve, competitive landscapes shift as companies come and go—some subsumed by their peers, others gaining market share through acquisitions and growth, while some startups fail to reach that maturity stage, especially in nascent industries. Yet while the pace of change varies, transformation is constant.

How do you survive in a crowded marketplace, especially when so many direct and indirect competitors want to eat (literally, for meal kits) your lunch? Looking back on 10 years leading HelloFresh, the largest global meal kit company, these key learnings stand out to me as the most important takeaways for enduring an industry shakeout and achieving staying power—and they can be applied across sectors:

Invest in long-term growth aligned with your vision to stay competitive

Providing a product or service you are proud of and that keeps your customers coming back is critical, but don’t get so mired in the day-to-day that you neglect your company’s long-term vision. The successful leader keeps one eye on the present and another keen eye on points three, five and even 10 years down the road. Consider every decision through the lens of “does this align with the vision for the company?”

Take the meal kit sector—a category once flush with dozens of competitors has consolidated, and only a few key players remain. My company, HelloFresh, began its journey 10 years ago with a mission to change the way people eat forever. From day one, our mission has been inextricably linked with developing a data-driven technology platform across our entire value chain. We have been a leader in this space because we excel where others have failed: investing in long-term growth via technology, product, and infrastructure to better serve new and existing customers and expand our total addressable market.

Today’s meal kit players must compete with a market crowded in a different way as more companies solve the “what’s for dinner?” equation—third-party delivery partners, Amazon, and grocery chains flexing their newly minted e-commerce platforms. Our early investments in technology, with a steady eye on future growth, have enabled HelloFresh to remain competitive a decade forward.

A steadfast commitment to investing in growth and building a business for the future are key to achieving staying power in a crowded market, especially when competitive landscapes (inevitably) change.

Know your customers

Customer feedback is essential in today’s marketplace—it’s how you ensure your product or service solves a customer need and stay on the pulse of what customers are…