Pretty nifty how analyzing companies in different industries helps understand idiosyncratic business models much better. An example is $XPEL. They provide paint protection film, ceramic coating & window tinting for cars, & distribute their product through installers& car dealers.

1)Studying Nike and reading Shoe Dog helped me understand what a marketing company is, and how a brand moat and strong dedication to marketing with athletes (ex: Nike with MJ, Tiger Woods, Nadal) is a big part of the moat for a product that many people could produce in a factory.

XPEL uses the same strategy with its marketing, by sponsoring race car drivers.

2)Studying a medical surgery equipment company ($SYK), which has sales reps follow medical students from college all the way through their careers & help them understand how to use Stryker’s products

helped me understand the switching costs that XPEL also leverages. XPEL organizes frequent workshops and training sessions for its installers, as well as licenses their proprietary software to help install the paint protection film on cars.

Installers and dealers then have little incentive or support to switch to another paint protection film provider (plus it’s a market with few players with the resources to compete).

3)Studying after-market auto parts companies like $AZO helped me understand the value-add

of services and parts’ revenues to car dealers, who make razor-thin margins on actual cars but make up for it with high incremental margins on services and parts’ revenue. XPEL’s value-add to retailers and distributors is similar in terms of helping them achieve higher revenues.

4) Studying Coca-Cola helped me understand the strength of a distribution network. Coca-Cola has a great brand, but it was the power of its bottling network and distribution that placed Coke everywhere a customer would want to buy it.

XPEL also does not have its own XPEL-branded stores but its wide distribution network through installers allows it to reach end-consumers far more easily, and this network is a competitive advantage that XPEL has and makes a newcomer’s entry into the PPF market very difficult.

BTW I wrote a short piece on XPEL if you're interested and am open to discussing the company. https://muhammadrazapanju.wixsite.com/website/post/chat-with-xpel-investor-relations-insights

@Bengordon2013 check out this thread and some of the write-ups on VIC as well.