Battle-tested strategies for winning in business

Business is a highly competitive landscape, so prepare for war. Whether you are just starting out or you’ve been in business for so many years; the competition is always there! Competitive warfare is good for business; they help kick out the lazy entrepreneurs from the scene which ultimately improves the industry. The presence of competitions in any industry is an indication that the market is profitable. So, if you are one of those lazy entrepreneurs who are constantly trying to create or discover a business idea with zero competition, congratulations, you’ve just found one sure way to kill your business from the beginning.

Instead, the right mindset you should have about competitions is to equip yourself and business for competitive warfare. On the battle field, its kill or be killed, there’s no room for second chances. The same is true of business – its warfare! Stop looking for that Holy Grail business idea that you can monopolize and focus instead on creating a superior value offering that can give you a competitive advantage. The goal of entrepreneurship is not to avoid competition; the goal is to beat the competition. And to do that, you need to prepare for competitive warfare.

3 Battle-tested Strategies for Competitive Warfare
This unusual article is going to help you identify practical battle-tested strategies that you can adopt for competitive warfare. You will learn how to thrive in the midst of competitions. If you are ready, let’s dig in!

1. Be offensive rather than defensive
Your first battle-tested competitive warfare strategy is a never ending strategic offense. This is the best form of defense against the competitions. Staying on the fence and watching the whole game being played around your industry is going to get you killed faster than when you are the one dictating the game. If you didn’t get into the game of business to influence how it’s being played in your chosen industry, then why bother being in the game at all? Unusual entrepreneurs don’t sit back and watch while others play the game, hell no! They re-invent the game, re-define the playbook and raise the bar of the game to a whole new level. This is what it means to be an entrepreneur – to change the game! You can’t afford to be on the reactive side of the game, waiting to defend all the bullets that are being fired at you, no way.

Your role as an unusual entrepreneur who got in the game is to be the one firing the bullets that is going to change the whole industry. You are to take the fight to them while they are still wallowing in their old ways of doing business as usual. Remember, you are not the status quo entrepreneur who always wants to keep things the way they have always been. You are a game changer, a fire starter! You are in that line of business to make a difference. You are in that industry to revolutionize it. You are the voice of the customer, a solution provider to the problems they face. You are the underdog strategically positioned to topple the existing traditional industry gatekeepers.

Constantly be on the offensive; always be attacking. The following competitive warfare strategies are guaranteed ways of consistently being on the offensive rather than defensive.

Innovation – Never stop innovating. When last did you come up with something new in your business? Your company’s capacity to consistently create industry breaking trends insulates it from the competition. With every innovative product or service you consistently come up with, you are keeping the competitions further and further away from you. So don’t ever settle; the way to win is to stay ahead of the competition always and not behind!

Marketing – All products are in demand. If they are not buying from you, then they are buying from the competitions and that’s because you lack marketing. Marketing is an opportunity to fight for the customer’s money. If you don’t show up, you don’t have a chance to get the customers money, period. Showing up increases your odds of being the preferred option among the different alternatives competing for the customer’s money. The more you show up the more you increase your odds of being chosen. It’s all about odds. Only those who show up have a fighting chance to win the customer’s money. But don’t just show up for showing up sake; you have to make sure when you are showing up you are making a good impression that can differentiate you from the competitions, spark up interest and lead to sales.

Continuous Learning and Development – Ideas are the weapons of competitive warfare and the business with the best executed ideas wins. Continuous learning and development is how you equip yourself with more practical ideas to consistently launch an offensive rather than being defensive.
When you lack ideas, you will always be on the defensive when the competitions come fighting. So step up your learning curve because any knowledge gained is an additional weapon in your competitive arsenal.
Tito Philips is a young Nigerian that is M. A. D – Making A Difference