Now that you’ve studied the twelve key attributes, here’s the question you should ask yourself: If Sun Tzu were running your small business, what would he do differently to bring it into accord with his battlefield strategy?
The spirit of Sun Tzu will be within you if you pose this question to yourself. Take these principles to heart and use them to defeat even your biggest competitors. How will you use The Art of War to dominate your market?
Here is a summary of Sun Tzu’s fundamental principles that apply to small business. Use them as an ongoing reference your business:
Acquire a comprehensive understanding. A full understanding of your organization’s weaknesses and strengths, in relationship to your competition, is a requirement for Sun Tzu. This is an ongoing effort that demands constant vigilance.
Build alliances. Think about your community and influencers, everyone from partners to employees, customers, vendors and suppliers, investors, and friends. Your strength will be a sum of these parts. To dominate, you need to leverage these combined forces. Again I say, small-business leaders need all the friends we can get.
Secure your position. To win, your business must take the most advantageous position. For Sun Tzu, a good position is high ground, on a sunny spot, with the supply line that is well guarded. Choose your ground carefully and consider every detail great and small.
Control perceptions. Small businesses have many opportunities to shape how they are viewed by customers, partners, and the rest of the world. While you may opt to deceive the enemy and shape appearances to advance your position, be sure that you’re also directing what your customers and allies see, hear, and know about you so that you can position your business as favorably as possible. Every single engagement your customer has with your company counts.
Think growth. Successful business leaders know that they can’t expect to achieve aggressive growth goals if they simply opt to hold ground. Always think growth, not just taking a defensive position.
Play the long game. Strategy is framed by the big picture. It is an endurance race. Don’t let your business slip into sacrificing long-term objectives for short-term benefits.
Be prepared to turn disadvantage to advantage. The seeds of opportunity are in disadvantage. But you must be prepared to seize these opportunities.
Win first. This quintessential Sun Tzu concept is not to be taken for granted. It’s one of the most important ideas from all of The Art of War.
Act decisively. While gathering intelligence and carefully planning every tactic around your strategic objectives is essential, it’s also fundamental to make informed decisions, and move quickly and with conviction when the time is right.
Using the few, out-strategize the many. The only way to take on and defeat the big competitors is to do so with superior strategy. In one well-executed battle at a time, Sun Tzu used a smaller number to defeat a larger force, and you must do the same.
Fight only when necessary. War is an incredible drain on resources, including human resources. Remember that the best way is to attack the enemy’s strategy, followed by disrupting his alliances.
Time your attacks. Part of knowing your adversary and knowing the strength of your organization is knowing when conditions are most appropriate for an attack. A poorly timed concept won’t reach its full potential.
Make use of the unexpected. Keep your competitors in the dark so that they won’t know what to expect from you or when. The unexpected is a powerful weapon that keeps adversaries wholly unprepared. Keep the enemy on the move.
Go where the enemy isn’t. Remember (always!) Sun Tzu’s direction to avoid attacking a larger adversary on his terms. Niches are small but specific and well-defined segments of buyers. You don’t have to “find” a niche. You can create one, like Elmer T. Lee did with premium bourbon. Go where the enemy isn’t and identify needs and wants that aren’t being satisfied.
Attack their weak spots relentlessly. Large organizations are typically prepared to counter direct competition, but they are woefully unprepared to respond to guerilla insurgencies. How can you hone in on your big competitors’ weaknesses?
Create unity. Present a unified, consistent image and brand experience and you’ll be ahead of much of the competition. Work to maintain unity, too.
Miss no opportunity to defeat the enemy. If you’re going to defeat the competition and dominate your market, you must take advantage of every single opportunity.
Adapt to trends and vary your plans. Identify and follow the trends in your industry. Vary your plans accordingly. Don’t fight it. Tablet and smartphone sales were escalating as DVD player sales were leveling. Netflix followed the trend instead of trying to capture a model with waning demand.
Execute flawlessly. The success of every strategy comes down to one essential thing: execution. Once you’ve defined yourself, you have to deliver the goods repeatedly and relentlessly. There are no days off.
Turn devious to direct. Outplay your adversaries so that they will have to take the longer, circuitous way, and you will get to the destination sooner.
Maximize resources. Make the best use of the comparatively limited resources you have. And don’t focus so much on acquiring new customers that you forget to maximize your current customers. Take advantage of the opportunities in leveling the playing field posed by the Internet, social media, and a global workforce.
While not expressly covered in Sun Tzu’s 2,500-year-old Chinese battlefield strategy, these principles are in concert with his direction. If Sun Tzu were developing strategy for your small business, he’d recommend these two bonus principles:
Differentiate yourself. Most small-business owners may intellectually understand the importance of differentiating themselves, yet many aren’t able to execute this strategy in a way that makes a real distinction in the marketplace. For examples of how to differentiate successfully, look to 5-Hour Energy, which created the bold new category of energy shots. And while Five Guys didn’t create the “better burger” category, it created a stand-out brand by combining an aggressive franchise strategy with a commitment to quality control, never using frozen ingredients, rewarding employees for performance, and offering a limited menu of items done consistently well.
Safeguard every customer interaction. Every single encounter that a customer has with your company is what ultimately makes up your brand. How you are perceived is everything. You need to occupy prime real estate inside the brain of your customers, your business partners, and potential employees. Your goal should be to have legions of loyal customers who comprise a powerful community. Think of the community of users who turned to and promoted PayPal, paving the way for that business to explode. Remember how Zappos leverages a cadre of committed employees to build extremely loyal customers. How can you build a powerful community for your small business?