Why The Ideas Of Most Businesses, Creators, and Entrepreneurs Naturally Fail Before They Ever Begin
Understanding Business Ecosystems
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Why The Ideas Of Most Businesses, Creators, and Entrepreneurs Naturally Fail Before They Ever Begin
Understanding Business Ecosystems
I Hear it All the Time.
A Business gives their Business Pitch.
A Creator talks about their latest Creation.
An Entrepreneur Discusses how their New Thing is going to Revolutionize Their Industry.
I Understand.
They Are Really Excited.
But Sadly...
I Know They Are Also Doomed.
It has Nothing to Do with their Talent.
Or Their Enthusiasm.
Or Really Anything about Them or Their Capabilities.
It has Everything to Do with Their Idea Itself.
But to really Understand the Problem, we have to Understand How Ecosystems Work.
Now, Business Ecosystems work very similarly to Natural Ecosystems.
So, allow me a moment to take you to Africa.
On the African Savannah, there are many different types of Animals.
Zebra, Wildebeast, Hippos, Giarrafes...
But if I ask you what the Apex Predator of the African Savannah Is...
What would you say?
The Answer you likely came up with is the Lion.
Now, are they the "Only" Predator on the African Savannah?
Of course not.
But they Hold the Apex Position.
What are all the Other Predators Forced to Do?
Adapt.
Focus on Different Niches.
Hyenas have Adapted by Being Able to Eat Anything and Working in Larger Groups.
Crocodiles have Adapted by Focusing on Prey in the Water.
Cheetahs have Adapted by Being Faster and Focusing on Prey the Lions can't Catch.
What are we Seeing within these Ecosystems?
Each Animal has a Place within the Ecosystem.
They Fill Different Roles within those Ecosystems.
The Ecosystems might Overlap Some...
All Predators in Africa eat similar types of Prey...
But Largely they are Focused within their Specific Role in the Ecosystem.
Once the Ecosystem has Settled, it Largely Remains the Same.
Even if you were to say...
Drop a Tiger in the Middle of Africa...
Would that Tiger Suddenly Dominate All of Africa?
Probably Not.
It might Win a Few Battles Against Individual Lions.
But, either the Tiger would Need to Get Some Allies to Overthrow the Lions...
Or the Lions would Eventually Overwhelm the Tiger, leaving the Tiger to Starve.
The End Result would likely be that the Ecosystem would, largely, Remain the Same.
This tends to be How All Ecosystems Work, Unless some Extremely Large Change Occurs which Completely Changes the Dynamics of the Ecosystems.
Now, a Business Ecosystem Works Almost Exactly the Same Way.
There will be a Business, Creator, Entrepreneurs, etc. that has Become the Primary Force in a Certain Category.
In Business Terms, they are the Category King/Queen.
They will Own Aproximately 76% of their Market On Average.
Lions Account for about 50% of the Population of Large Predator Biomass in Africa, and 65% of the Prey Biomass killed by Carnivores is through Lions.
Business Plays Out Very Similar To Nature.
This Domination of the Market Typically Does Not Change "Unless" the Business Ecosystem Dramatically Changes.
Blockbuster was the Dominant Video Rental Store of its Time.
They Remained like that in the 80's, 90's, and Early 2000's.
Until...
Streaming Completely Changed the Business Ecosystem.
In the New Era of Streaming, Blockbuster Never Found a Niche, and Promptly Declined.
This is Not Too Dissimilar to how Dinosaurs were Wiped Out by Changing Conditions, Allowing Mamals to Dominate in their Place.
Now, What happens to Everyone Else within a Business Ecosystem?
They will Either...
Find a Different Niche within the Ecosystem, and become part of the 24% Remaining...
Or Fail.
When a Business, Creator, or Entrepreneur says that they are "Better Than" what they are Saying is that they are a Cheetah in Comparison to the Lion.
They May have Success, especially within their Niche...
But they will Not become the Lion of their Industry.
You can Use All the Fancy Words You'd Like...
"Shifting the Paradigm."
"Gamechanging Evolution."
"Features With Wider Appeal."
They All End The Same...
Never Overcoming the Category King/Queen.
When a Company Believes they can Truly "Outcompete" the Current Category King/Queen within "Their" Ecosystem?
They Inevitably Fail.
I have Seen It Far Too Many Times.
This is Why the Ideas of Most Businesses, Creators, and Entrepreneurs will Naturally Fail.
They are Attempting to Compete in an Ecosystem that has Already Been Established.
It is Difficult or Impossible to get the Necessary Resources because those Resources are Already being Dominated within the Ecosystem.
Most Customers Know, Trust(ish), and at least Tolerate the Category King/Queen.
The Category King/Queen has Dominated the Pathways to Gain Access to those Customers, and it will be Difficult to Convice "Enough" Customers Otherwise.
The Only Way to Overcome This?
You Can Find a Niche that is Different and Unique to You.
Or...
You Design a Completely New Category that Makes the Old Category Irrelevant.
Or...
You Wait for an Outside Force that Completely Changes the Ecosystem.
Now, sometimes the Outside Forces are Not Ideal...
Just as it was Not Ideal for the Dinosaurs.
Law Changes, Pandemics, Recessions, Trade Tariffs, Wars...
These are All Potential Business Ecosystem Changers.
Another Potential Business Ecosystem Changer.
But None of these are Guarenteed to Completely Change the Ecosystem.
Not to mention that the Process of the Ecosystem Dramatically Changing can become Terribly Painful.
So, as a General Rule, the First Two Methods Work Better as Business Strategies.
Either Dominate a Niche Unlike Anyone Else, which will not overcome the Category King/Queen but will Ensure Surival...
Or Design an Entirely New Category that Removes the Category King/Queen Completely.
The Third Option Usually Works Best as an Opportunity Tactic.
They are Not Always There, and Should Not Be Relied Upon...
But "When" the Opportunity Presents Itself You Take It.
Zoom Accomplished this During the Pandemic by Quickly Moving to Spread It's Technology to Everyone that was Suddenly Forced to Work from Home.
Before this, Zoom Struggled to Compete with Cisco and WebEx "Despite" the Fact that they were "Easier" to Use.
"Easier" is a Niche, but Does Not Overcome the Category King/Queen.
So, they Adapted to the Education Sector and Fully Remote Teams which were Growing due to Improving Technology.
By Focusing on a Different Niche, they Survived and Grew.
But it was in Taking the Opportunity to be offer their Services in the Sudden Forced Remote Working/Educational Situations of the Pandemic where Zoom Completely Dominated their Industry.
Their Niche Focus allowed them to Grow alongside a Category King/Queen.
Their Taking the Opportunity Really Drove Forward their Success Today.
Understanding How Business Ecosystems Work is Essential if you want to Survive.
Whether You're a Business, Creator, Entrepreneur, or anything Similar.
Understand the Ecosystem You're Entering...
And How Ecosystems Work...
That is How You'll Learn to Survive.
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So how do we go about Navigating the Ecosystem?
There are a few things we can do in order to Create Our Place.
Both Now and in the Future.
See, this is where Most People Go Wrong.
They Believe that by Creating the Space they will Always Keep the Place.
But Ecosystems Change.
Sometimes for the Worst.
Other times for the Better.
But Regardless, you will want to Understand How to Navigate the Ecosystems.
Let’s Dive In…
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