Exclusivity on a free platform?

Im developing a business model that brings a new feature to its market. the idea itself is new and nobody is doing it today. in order to enable this, Im using an existing platform (free at this time) that enables me to provide this new feature.
My question is - My concern is that once im out with the idea, people in the industry see its cool and can bring them more income, and will offer the same for their service, and since im using a free platform, they might use it as well.

this plaform is for free as the company who developed it want to grow and get as much users to use it, so considering this fact, what can i do & how can i overcome this problem of quick competetion ? Do i have anything to offer in order to get exclusivity in my area / region, so it will be seariously considered by the plaform company ?

Thanks

The power of traction.

You shouldn't be afraid of success. If your idea is successful it means it gained traction. Your idea can be imitated (unless you have a patent on it), but they would have to work very hard hard to compete with your traction. When you're good you'll have competition, that's an affirmation you're good. However, when your competitors work on leveling the playing field, you push forward into second gear with new features from your roadmap. This is how it works. The more traction you gain, the harder it gets for your competitors to match you.

Let's say someone created a social network that's better than facebook. Better in a sense it has more features (e.g. like that 'dislike' button they religiously refuse to add). Facebook has more than half a billion users. Do you think they'll care about a new AND BETTER social network? no- because the traction competition has already been won by Facebook. It would have to go through years of decline (like MySpace did) in order to be conquered by someone else. Anyone can write a new instagram, or twitter or facebook -- Some can even launch it and deploy it. But I don't see those going away anytime soon. They have traction.

That should be your first goal, be first in your space -- gain traction and don't look back while you keep moving forward.

how can i overcome this problem of quick competetion ?

• Find a way to hide from your users/costumers/competitors the source of your platform.
• Rewrite the platform if possible and make it unique for your purposes.

Do i have anything to offer in order to get exclusivity in my area /
region, so it will be seariously considered by the plaform company ?

By platform do you mean underlying software? Or are using an api to extend a site (ie Facebook?)?

If you're using an open source system, you have almost 0 protection from someone copying your idea beyond them straight copy and pasting your code. If you are extending a site, its pretty much the same alas a bit easier to deal with. Being the first you can offer the site an incentive If competition picks up to give an edge.. I.e. you'll give them 25% Profit share for direct code access, instead oF api making your app faster than competition.

One thing you need to realize is in the current world, its nearly guaranteed if your app is decent it WILL be cloned. Take that as a complement, bow, make it better!! Facebook wasn't the first, nor the last social network. They are not the best, but they are the biggest. Constant innovation and reinvention is key. Main piece of advice, don't give up, don't get discouraged. There is a lesson in everything. CreatE your app and see how it goes, if it gets cloned means its good, and if you get beaten, spite them and open source the code lol