If I asked you to list the advantages any global brand has over its competitors you’d likely think of things like access to capital, distribution networks, and other resources that the average business doesn’t have. But these brands are the outliers.

When it comes down to it, most businesses have access to similar resources, raw materials, and human capital. Every pizza is made with flour, cheese, and tomato. So why do queues form at this place and not that one? What drives the demand that’s responsible for success?

The one true advantage we all have at our fingertips is how we make people feel, and the story they leave with. Sometimes that story is a two-hour wait, a $5 price tag for a single slice, or a hand-made pizza crafted by a man who has been making them for 50 years.

Understanding how people will tell the story to others is an advantage every business can own.

Image by Lucas Richarz.