How to find a blue ocean strategy for your business

Initially, the term was used by the authors Chan Kim and Rene Moborn, but recently this phrase has already become a household word and is well known to those related to business.

The term "blue ocean" is applied to business in that niche where there is no competition yet. In contrast, the "scarlet ocean" filled with the "blood" of competitors. In the blue ocean, there is a much greater chance of catching fish, since you are alone there. But is a blue ocean strategy always needed, and how to find it.

To begin with, it’s worth determining if this blue ocean in your industry is needed. If you sell everyday goods and everything is going well, then maybe this is not your way. For example, if you have a bakery or grocery store. Although the business is very highly competitive, people buy food and bread every day, and here you need to concentrate on the quality of the products, polite employees, excellent service. Then you will already have competitive advantages and advantageously differ. And it’s better to spend all your efforts on debugging the system and scaling a business than on searching for an incomprehensible new niche.

Here, the "blue ocean" may not appear in the product itself, but in some innovations. For example, if no one in the area offers home delivery, do it first. If you work in a small city where bank cards are not accepted in the surrounding stores, then put a terminal at your place.

The easiest way to “skim the cream” with a new product or service is to monitor the European and American markets. Most of the ideas in our country come from there. So in our cities the first fitness clubs and barbershops appeared. And many different products. There is one catch: there is a difference in mentality, so there is always a share of risk.

One of the options to rebuild from competitors in this industry is to become the best specialist in a narrow segment of services. For example, if you are a hairdresser, then specialize only in dyeing in blond, undergo training, constantly improve, purchase the best materials, invest in advertising, and then you can rightfully raise the price of your services and become number one in the city / district. This is an example of going out into the blue ocean even in such a conservative industry as hairdressing.

Trying to offer the market something unusual and new, it is important to predict whether this product or service will be needed at all. It happens that he is not on the market, not because no one has thought of it yet, but because no one will buy it. Then, apart from the blue ocean, failure and loss will result.

The blue ocean quickly turns scarlet. When you achieve success in a low-competitive area, those who want to repeat it immediately appear. Then you need to apply other strategies: honing the service, improving the goods, expanding the range. Otherwise, competitors may bypass you, even if they were originally your followers.