The Moat
The Complexity That Annoys You Is the Wall That Saves You.
Every hassle you master is a competitor who gives up.
The licensing, the paperwork, the awkward relationships, the thousand small things that make your business a pain to run - you curse them daily. But flip it round: every one of those hassles is a wall. The harder your business is to operate, the fewer people will ever bother to copy it. The annoyance and the protection are the same thing.
So stop wishing it were simpler. A simple business is a business anyone can clone by next quarter. Master the complexity that drives others away and it stops being your burden and becomes your moat - the reason your market stays yours while the easy markets get swarmed and gutted.
The hassle you've mastered is the barrier no rival wants to climb.
This is one of 48 laws from MIDDLEMAN - The 48 Laws of the Money in the Middle. Read it in full to climb the whole building, floor by floor.