Your Constraints Define Your Market Position

For most people struggling to find success in business, the only thing missing is a unique market position.

Now, this isn't a new concept, but it's new in the world of solopreneurship.

With everyone being a solopreneur it's important that you understand what can be the difference between success and going back to the job listings.

We Do Micro Worlds

Because we like to switch things up, we don't think in terms of market position here. We (us Lazy Unicorns) use that term so that you understand it, but when you're following any of the Lazy Methods, then you'll find that we like to think in terms of Micro Worlds.

Why?

Who wants to build a marketing position? Sounds too boardroom and it leaves no room for the imagination.

Instead, we build Micro Worlds because that's exactly what you're doing in today's environment.

You need a position. Your people need a world.

And that's why if you read any of the old books on positioning, you'll find that they miss some key elements.

The Fundamental Insight

Your market position isn't just about what you know or what you can do. It's defined by the specific constraints you had to overcome to achieve your outcome.

Those constraints become your competitive advantage because they force you to develop solutions that work within real-world limitations.

Why This Matters

Most people try to position themselves by their expertise or credentials. But expertise is a commodity. Everyone in your space has expertise.

What they don't have is YOUR specific journey of achieving the outcome despite YOUR specific constraints.

That journey becomes your territory because nobody else can claim it.

The Positioning Formula

Your Market Position = The Outcome You Achieved + The Constraints You Overcame

Example with Lazy Unicorns:

Outcome: Built a profitable business that doesn't require constant grinding Constraints: ADHD brain + three young kids + limited time + refusal to sacrifice family

Market Position: I help brilliant minds build wealth-generating systems that work with ADHD brains and real-world constraints like kids and limited time.

Nobody else can claim that exact territory because nobody else has that exact combination of outcome and constraints.

How Constraints Create Authority

When someone shares your constraints, they immediately trust you understand their situation.

Not theoretically. Not from research. From lived experience.

If you built a $500k business working 20 hours per week WITH kids and ADHD, people with kids and ADHD believe you can help them do it too.

If you achieved the outcome despite having LESS advantages than they have, your credibility skyrockets.

The Three Types of Constraints

1. Personal Constraints

Physical or mental attributes that limit how you work:

• ADHD, dyslexia, chronic illness
• Introversion, social anxiety
• Physical disabilities
• Age, energy levels

2. Situational Constraints

Life circumstances that limit your resources:

• Kids, caretaking responsibilities
• Day job, limited time
• Geographic location
• Financial limitations

3. Values Constraints

Ethical boundaries you refuse to cross:

• Won't use manipulative tactics
• Refuse to work 80-hour weeks
• Won't sacrifice family time
• Won't pretend to be someone you're not

All three types become positioning advantages when you achieve the outcome despite them.

Why This Beats Generic Positioning

Generic: "I help entrepreneurs grow their businesses"

• Could be anyone
• No specific authority
• Competing with thousands

Constraint-Based: "I help ADHD entrepreneurs build profitable businesses working 20 hours a week without medications or rigid systems"

• Immediately identifies who you serve
• Instant credibility with that audience
• Own specific territory

Generic: "I teach people to lose weight"

• Commodity positioning
• Price competition

Constraint-Based: "I help busy parents lose 20 pounds without giving up family dinners or living at the gym"

• Specific constraints = specific authority
• Parents immediately recognize you get their situation

The Credibility Multiplier

The harder your constraints, the more credibility you gain when you achieve the outcome.

If you achieved X result with every advantage (money, time, support, ideal conditions), that's expected.

If you achieved X result with significant disadvantages, that's remarkable.

Your constraints prove your methodology works in difficult conditions. Which means it should work even better for people with fewer constraints.

Finding Your Constraint-Based Position

Step 1: List Your Constraints What made achieving your outcome harder than it "should" have been?

• Time limitations
• Resource limitations
• Physical/mental limitations
• Ethical boundaries
• Life circumstances

Step 2: Identify Which Constraints You Solved For Which constraints forced you to develop better solutions?

• Did ADHD make you create simple systems that don't require perfect memory?
• Did kids force you to build businesses that work in 2-hour blocks?
• Did introversion make you develop marketing that doesn't require networking?

Step 3: Match Your Constraints to Your Character's Constraints Who else has the same constraints and wants the same outcome?

That's your market position.

Real Examples

Marie Forleo

• Constraint: Refused to choose between business success and creative expression
• Outcome: Built multi-million dollar business being authentically herself
• Position: "Everything is Figureoutable" for people who won't sacrifice authenticity

Tim Ferriss

• Constraint: Didn't want to work 80-hour weeks like everyone said you had to
• Outcome: Built successful businesses working way less
• Position: The 4-Hour framework for people who value efficiency over grinding

Pat Flynn

• Constraint: Got laid off, needed to support family immediately
• Outcome: Built passive income businesses that don't require constant attention
• Position: Smart Passive Income for people who want revenue without being glued to business

My Example (Lazy Unicorns)

• Constraints: ADHD + kids + limited time + refusal to sacrifice family
• Outcome: $500k+ business working 20 hours per week
• Position: Help brilliant minds build wealth without grinding, using systems that work with their brains

The Authority Transfer

When you position from your constraints, authority transfers automatically.

They think: "If they did it with THOSE limitations, and I have similar limitations, then their methodology must work within those constraints."

Your constraints prove your systems are constraint-tested, not theory.

Why Most People Miss This

Most positioning advice says hide your constraints. Present yourself as the expert who has it all figured out. Show the polished result, not the messy journey.

That's backwards.

Your constraints are what make you relatable and credible to people with similar constraints.

Hiding them makes you look like everyone else who achieved the outcome with perfect conditions.

The Positioning Test

Bad positioning: "I achieved X outcome" (so what, lots of people did)

Good positioning: "I achieved X outcome despite Y constraints" (now I'm interested)

Great positioning: "I achieved X outcome despite Y constraints, and here's the specific methodology I developed to work within those constraints" (shut up and take my money)

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Treating Constraints as Weaknesses Don't apologize for your constraints. Feature them as proof your methodology works in difficult conditions.

Mistake 2: Picking Constraints You Didn't Actually Have Don't manufacture constraints for positioning. Your audience will sense the inauthenticity.

Mistake 3: Focusing Only on Constraints You still need the outcome. Constraints alone don't create positioning. It's the combination.

Mistake 4: Choosing Constraints Your Audience Doesn't Share Your constraints should match your character's constraints. Otherwise the authority doesn't transfer.

The Implementation

For Content: Every piece of content should implicitly or explicitly reference the constraints you work within and the solutions you developed.

"Here's how I create 90 days of content in 3 hours using systems designed for ADHD brains and limited time."

For Offers: Position your offer as solving the outcome while respecting the constraints.

"Build a $25k/month business working 20 hours per week - designed for parents and people with ADHD."

For Your Story: Lead with the constraints in your origin story.

"I needed to build a business that worked around two kids, ADHD, and a refusal to become a corporate drone. Here's what I discovered."

The Long-Term Advantage

Constraint-based positioning creates sustainable differentiation because:

1. Your constraints are unique to you
2. Your solutions emerged from real experience, not theory
3. Your authority is unquestionable to people with similar constraints
4. Nobody can copy your exact journey

You own territory defined by the intersection of:

• The outcome people want
• The constraints they're dealing with
• The solutions that work within those constraints

That's a category of one.

Your Next Step

Define your market position by completing this statement:

"I help [people with these constraints] achieve [this outcome] using [methodology developed to work within those constraints]."

That's not just positioning. That's ownership of territory nobody else can claim.

Your constraints aren't limitations. They're the foundation of your competitive advantage.