Focus on doing one thing well.

In 1960 Thomas Monaghan and his brother purchased a small pizza store in Yspilanti Michigan, USA for a down payment of just $75 on a loan of $500. Just six months later Tom's brother traded him his half of the business for the princely sum an old Volkswagen Beetle.

For six years Tom learned the ropes of the pizza business, and in 1965 he renamed the store Dominos Pizza and decided to revolutionise pizza delivery. Just two years later Tom had perfected his formula enough to expand, and he opened his first franchised store in tiny Yspilanti. By 1978 Domino's had over 200 stores, and quickly became the number one home delivered pizza in the USA.

What was Tom's secret ? He decided his pizza business had to be known for one thing, and one thing only - speed. For its first twenty years Dominos stressed its speed in all its advertising: "30 minutes or its free". Tom was hell bent on owning the concept of the speediest home delivery pizza service within the eyes of the public, and drummed it into people in ad after ad. It worked, and everyone came to know Dominos as the fast, reliable pizza delivery service.

This maniacal focus on doing one thing well is also detailed in Al Ries classic marketing book Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, where he sums up positioning with four tips:

1. You must position yourself in your prospects mind.
2.  Your position should be singular: one simple message
3.  Your position must set you apart from your competitors.
4.   You must sacrifice. You cannot be all things to all people; you must focus on one thing.

Domino's never mentioned the things that the other pizza brands touted all the time - quality, price, or value. His fanatical focus on "doing one thing extremely well" meant he carved out a niche in the hyper-competitive pizza business and his company thrived.

Stand for one thing that will differentiate you from competitors, and focus on that.