Troop Numbers and Battle
If you have 10 to one odds in your favor, then surround the competition. If you have five to one odds in your favor you should attack. If you have double the numbers, you should divide and conquer. If you are equal in number you can attack.
Sun Tzu said, “ If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him. Hence, though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force.”
Business and Employees
The number of employees is not always relevant in business. Some leaner companies are much harder to beat than some larger companies. Carrying dead weight is a burden. Hence, it matters a lot the caliber of the employees and how lean the business cost structure is. All things being equal, numbers matter a lot and the person with the most people will win.
If you have superiority in the numbers, you can beat the competition. If you have ten to one or five to one odds, you should go after smaller companies and try to purchase them or destroy them.
If things look equal, you should try to first, find ways to beat the competition without directly fighting with them and second, to compete directly with them as a last resort.
If you are unequal to the competition, you should run away. You are only going to get hurt in the process.
Small Business
Small business can learn from this. They should realize that larger companies are going to try and put them out of business by doing everything that they can. Small companies should look for ways to compete that are not in direct competition with large well established companies.
It is better to be in a small niche and win, than to be in a large niche and lose big. Many small business owners are too hubristic. They reason that they can work harder and longer and faster than the competitors of a larger force. Even if this is a true statement (often it is a dream) Sun Tzu points out that eventually the smaller force will tire out and be overtaken by the larger force. It is just too difficult to sustain over a long period of time.
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