1 Step To Achieving Competitive Advantage In Your Business
Business, like war is a conflict. All conflict is ultimately won through strategy, and the strategies of war can be used to reveal the strategies that you must use within your business. This is the first in a series of articles in which will discuss how the strategies of war have the ability to help you in creating competitive advantages in your business so that you can overtake your competition and dominate your market. In this article you will learn that the need to discover your enemies is the first essential step to creating competitive advantages within your business.
War, life and business are each a series of conflicts and battles in their own ways. To properly engage in these battles you must, above all else, gain clarity as to who is your enemy and then you must focus on gaining room to maneuver. This is the first and most important step to achieving competitive advantage within your market. If you cannot determine and focus on your enemies, then there is no point in moving to a second step. So for right now, the one step you must take is to determine who it is that is opposed to you.
However, you may not be accustomed to thinking this way. This is why the paradigm shift to a Marine Corps warfighting mindset is so essential to your success. You must consistently be preparing yourself for battle and your worldview must be that of a determined and focused warrior. Critical to this paradigm shift is the knowledge that the word enemy is derived from the Latin word inimicus, which means not a friend. Our modern society has a negative view of aggressive actions and the characterization of someone as an enemy. Therefore, our concept of enemies must not be entirely negative but it must be widened to be inclusive of those people who are working against us, even in the most minor of ways.
Even with our broadened concept of who our enemies are, do not be afraid to confront them. For without conflict there is no battle, and if there is no battle then there can be no victory. Victory, after all is what we are after if we are going to properly discuss how to achieve a competitive advantage. Now, as you realize that there are people that wish you harm, who wish to steal your customers, who desire to erode your profits, then you can identify them. This is the fundamental first step; when you identify your enemies, you can suddenly create room to maneuver.
Achieving competitive advantage is absolutely dependant on creating room to maneuver. Therefore, identifying your enemies so that you may maneuver is the one step that must be taken to successfully exploit your advantage and grow your business. Skip it at your own peril. In the famous strategy book, The Art of War, Sun-Tzu states Dont depend on the enemy not coming; depend rather on being ready for him. It is not irrational paranoia that should consume you; instead it is a commitment to success in the battlefield of your market.
Be aware that an up-front enemy is quite rare; this is where your direct competition is actually a blessing in disguise. But since you are a now knowledgeable in this strategy, be sure to scan the horizon for additional enemies and to examine you competition even closer than you initially would. As we discussed how the world has a negative perception of conflict, most people will not attack you openly and directly. Instead they will seek covert ways to destroy you and may even pose as a friend or ally. Business competition is fierce, your enemies are crafty and danger is everywhere.
Now that you have identified all those who are opposed to you, you can begin to create the room to maneuver that is required to achieve victory by exploiting your competitive advantage. To clarify our concept of maneuver, we will examine how the U.S. Marine Corps defines maneuver warfare in MCDP 1. Maneuver warfare is a warfighting philosophy that seeks to shatter the enemys cohesion through a variety of rapid, focused, and unexpected actions which create a turbulent and rapidly deteriorating situation with which the enemy cannot cope. With this in mind, your focus is now on creating the rapid, unexpected and focused actions that will allow you to achieve a competitive advantage over your competition and deliver you victory in your daily battles.
Lastly, remember that defining our enemies provides us clarity and focus for our actions within the context of maneuver warfare. To be successful in business we must not be paranoid, but prudent and focused. This single step of defining our enemies provides clarity and room to maneuver. We do not do this so that we can be unethical towards those who are not on our side, but because without enemies, you will not know where, when or how to maneuver as you attempt to achieve an advantage in your market that will lead to victory.
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