Everything doesn’t need to be built from the ground up.

When something proves useful to the market, someone out there will build a template for it.

And once that template exists, it becomes a tool available for anyone who wants to enter the game with speed.

That’s the real shift in today’s business landscape.

What used to be invention is now selection.

Back when discount brokers exploded, I saw how easily new players entered the field.

Zerodha cracked open the market.

Others followed.

Two brokers I remember had the exact same app — same layout, same flow — just different colors.

The core functionality was already productized.

They didn’t need to build anything.

They just re-skinned the system and launched.

I see the same thing happening today with food delivery.

There’s a local app I use in Kolkata.

Its delivery tracking screen looks just like Zomato or Swiggy.

The features are the same.

The map.

The order updates.

Everything.

It’s clear the app is either cloned or licensed.

But that’s not a weakness.

It’s a decision.

They saved development time and jumped straight into operations.

Because once the base tech exists in a working form, it can be bought.

Software, packaging, hardware — all of it can be commoditized.

Even in physical businesses, like restaurants, this shows up clearly.

Many places use the same packaging, the same containers, the same bottles.

There’s no reason to create custom solutions when perfectly good ones already exist in the market.

What’s needed is clarity.

Clarity on what to own, and what to buy.

If your plan is to serve a great recipe, focus energy there.

Don’t waste time designing a new container or building a custom POS system.

Someone already sells those.

They’re proven, available, and ready to use.

Use your resources on what moves the needle.

If the value lies in taste, focus on food.

If it lies in the story, focus on branding.

If it lies in service, focus on operations.

Everything else can be borrowed, bought, or licensed.

Software is just one example.

The same principle applies across domains.

There are vendors who sell ready-made frameworks.

There are platforms where you can white-label products.

There are agencies who will configure apps for you using existing codebases.

A basic system can be stood up in days if the fundamentals are already productized.

The logic is simple: you don’t need to build a kitchen just to cook.

Every product or service is built from smaller functions.

These functions can often be isolated.

Once isolated, they can be repeated, reused, and externalized.

This is how software functions work.

This is how APIs work.

And this is how modern businesses can work too.

If someone else does a task better, cheaper, and faster — you let them do it.

That is delegation.

Whether it’s done by a person, a team, or a third-party product, the logic remains the same.

That’s what templates are — delegation at scale.

You pay to skip the setup.

You pay to move faster.

Once the infrastructure is in place, the game becomes about customer acquisition and customer retention.

You try to win more people than you lose.

And you try to keep those people coming back.

Whether you built the base product or licensed it doesn’t change the core challenge.

Business becomes a loop — reach, acquire, retain.

That loop runs again and again.

Your energy must go toward improving that loop.

That’s where the real game is played.

You don’t get extra points for doing everything yourself.

You get results by solving the right problems and using the right tools.

A strong sales and marketing engine is enough to build a business on top of an existing system.

Investor capital can be used to skip the slower parts.

You can fund the purchase of templates, licenses, software, or suppliers.

If you’re clear on how to get users, hold users, and extract value — the rest becomes logistics.

That clarity is what defines execution.

The myth that entrepreneurs need to build everything from scratch blocks momentum.

The truth is far more direct — you need to know where to focus, what to assemble, and how to deliver.

Templates are the scaffolding.

So the real work is in identifying what’s already commoditized and what still holds room for innovation.

Once that map is clear, decisions get easier.

Build what’s unique.

Buy what’s available.

Test what’s unclear.

Every part of a business can be sorted into those buckets.

This mindset isn’t about taking shortcuts.

It’s about not losing time in places where time doesn’t multiply.

Modular thinking lets you move faster.

Strategic delegation reduces drag.

Templates give you a running start.

What matters is how well you use the time you saved.

Once you stop trying to prove that you can do everything, you can start proving that you can do the right things.

That’s the shift.

That’s how you move from idea to product to revenue — without wasting momentum.

Whether you build from scratch or license a system, you will still face the same challenge.

So if you have money and can skip the development phase, then go for it.

There will be the first mover who will create the app and try to gain customers and then someone will join later, they will buy a template and try to fight for the same market.

So at the end of the day it’s all marketing and sales game.

Eventually everyone has to play the same game of sales and marketing.

You will still need to reach people.

You will still need to earn trust.

You will still need to convert interest into revenue.

You will still need to retain users through value and experience.

That loop — acquire, retain, repeat — is where the business lives.

It doesn’t matter how the product was created.

What matters is how the product grows.

That growth only happens through sales and marketing.

You have to bring in more customers than you lose.

That is the rotation your system must survive.

And that is the game everyone steps into.

Every element that does not shape your differentiation must be commoditized.

Buy it, license it, or delegate it.

Spend your energy where it can compound.

If a certain feature defines your edge, that is where you experiment.

That is where iteration matters.

Everything else must be standardized and streamlined.

You can only afford to fight on chosen ground.

The rest must be stabilized and made repeatable.

The faster you identify your differentiator, the faster you can build momentum.

All products eventually arrive at the same battlefield.

That battlefield is distribution, retention, and return.

This is the game.

And it rewards those who play it on purpose.