Learning Modern Day Business Strategies from an Ancient Chinese General
- Sun Tzu lived about 500 years BC and wrote a book called “The Art of War”.
- In it, he taught some brilliant ideas about ways to win battles.
- Those same lessons are still relevant in the business world.
- Some of those lessons are shared here.
Capture Market Share Without Competing Directly
How?
- Find niche markets or under-served markets for your products
- Position your products differently than your competitors
- Offer bundled offers or something that makes your listing different
- Offer great customer service
Avoid Competitor’s Strengths, Attack Their Weakness
How?
- Showcase product videos in your listings
- Reference product reviews and customer testimonials
- Emphasize what makes you unique and why people should buy from you.
- Don’t only focus on price. This is the quickest way to lose money.
Use Data & Intelligence to Maximize Chances of Succeeding
How?
- Keep track of your sales on GunBroker.com and through your point-of-sale.
- Watch trends. Compare them to the overall market. This is a useful link to help you: http://www.gungenius.com/top-selling
- Review your financials regularly to ensure you are hitting your revenue goals.
- Compare your prices and value vs. competitors.
Prepare with Insight, Act with Speed
How?
- Reducing time to make decisions, list products with compelling offers, and ship them to customers is critical.
- Look for ways to make these run faster by creating a playbook or procedure that you always follow, or have some templates saved that you can quickly modify and reuse.
Analytics Help You Win the War Before You Go To Battle
How?
- Data helps you see opportunities.
- Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
- Data helps you see threats.
- Threats diminish as you proactively work to overcome or avoid them.