Every founder wants positioning that appeals to more people. Strong positioning does the opposite. It decides who to disappoint, on purpose.
This is the part that feels wrong, so most businesses won't do it. They want to be for everyone, because turning anyone away feels like turning away revenue. So they soften their position until it offends no one, and in doing so, they stop being compelling to anyone.
The maths of trying to please everyone
When you position for everyone, you compete with everyone. You become one more option in a crowded field, indistinguishable from the rest, chosen on price because there's nothing else to choose on.
When you position for someone specific, you compete with far fewer people, and you compete on fit rather than price. The right client looks at you and thinks, finally, someone who gets my situation. That feeling is worth more than any feature, and you only earn it by being willing to not be for everyone else.
A position that excites the right client will always leave someone else cold. That's not a flaw. That's the position working.
Disappointing the wrong people is the mechanism
This is the bit that's hard to accept. The thing that makes you the obvious choice for one group is the same thing that makes you wrong for another. You can't have the first without the second.
If your strength is being the premium, hands-on option, you will disappoint the people looking for cheap and fast. Good. Those were never your clients. Every time your position turns one of them away, it's also telling the right client they're in the right place.
Try to keep both and you lose the edge that won you the first group. You become the safe middle, and the safe middle doesn't get chosen, it gets compared.
What this looks like in practice
It means saying clearly what you're best at, even though it implies what you're not for. It means a website that speaks directly to one kind of client, in their language, about their specific problem. It means turning down work that doesn't fit, so you have room for the work that does.
It means being comfortable with a prospect saying, this isn't for me. That's a position doing its job. A prospect self-selecting out is the system working, not failing.
The courage it takes
This is why positioning is leadership work, not marketing work. It takes nerve to choose, and to hold the choice when a tempting but wrong opportunity comes along.
But the businesses that win are the ones that decided. They picked who they were for, accepted who they'd disappoint, and committed. That commitment is the whole advantage. Everyone else is still trying to be for everyone, and disappearing into the middle while they do it.