The business world is tough.
There are hundreds of competitors out there who are all after the same customers that you are. If you are lucky you’re in a big market so there’s enough customers for everyone. Or perhaps you stand out by being better or cheaper than the rest. But there is another option, that’s the Blue ocean strategy.
Avoid the red ocean, swim in the blue.
“Don’t swim in a red ocean of bloody competition.”
This is the core idea of the “blue ocean strategy”. Instead of fighting others for a limited set of resources, you move to a new market where there’s no competition at all.
Instead of being a choice of two or more, you become the only option.
Don’t look at the competition
Country to most business strategies, you shouldn’t look at what your competition is doing in this strategy. That’s because if you define yourself properly, you have no competition. Plus, by looking at the competition, you can fall into the same traps.
Instead, focus on your customers, their needs and how you can uniquely meet them.
A blue ocean strategy doesn’t just mean premium pricing.
You might think this naturally leads to premium pricing, but that’s not guaranteed.
By redefining the market, the problem and the solution, companies can provide value at lower costs. An example might be providing a SaaS solution instead of a premium service (for example Canva for making social media images), instead of a freelance designer on commission, you can design it yourself.
The Netflix example
When it started, it was a way to watch movies at home. But it didn’t really compete with rental stores or cable services by offering a lower price or more options. Instead it provided a unique service of delivering dvd with credits each month.
Since then it changed to streaming with unlimited watching.
Are you swimming in a blue ocean?
So if you’re competing in a vicious existing market, maybe you should look for the blue ocean?