There's this guy named Michael Porter who is a strategic management genius. We learned about him in Operations Management (MAN4504) this past semester. He came up with five key strategies for achieving competitve advantage.
They are:
1. Be Flexible
2. Emphasize Quality
3. Be Innovative
4. Low Cost
5. Speed
These are key ideas to keep in mind for a budding entrepreneur (i.e. me). QuickMBA has more info if you are interested.