Strategy as Scarcity

Lots of books and article make strategy sound feindishly difficult, which it isn't or rather it is. It is difficult because identifying the right things to do and even more so to do them well is very hard. On the other hand it is easy because all you have to do is focus on one thing - Scarcity.  It's basic economics really - scarcity creates demand and the opportuinity to profit from that demand and if you control that scarcity then you have advantage. So what sort of scarcity and control am I talking about?  Imagine that you own an antiquarian bookshop (yes they still exist) specialising in rare books about traction engines - you become the 'go to' place for people who are interested in that subject (there must be some).  It is of course a niche but you have placed yourself in that niche and control it.  The suppliers will go to you as will the buyers - bingo you have advantage. Of course the scarcer the resource and the harder it is to imitate then the greater and longer the advantage.
So what are we looking at here? Well clearly there are physical resources that might be scarce; technologies; knowledge; skills; location; networks etc.etc. The trick is to make them yours and to keep them or at least make them hard to copy. This doesn't overcome the need to identify the right market or many of the other basics but it does make it very hard for companies to overcome your advantage.  In the end everything is eroded but the real trick to scarcity is innovation - the constant identification of what is scarce and desired. If you can do that then you have got it made.
This applies to the strategy of getting jobs as well as to business.  As I say to my students - 'make yourself scarce!!'