Sam Hazledine - Unfair Fight: Give Your Small Business the Winning Advantage

COMPETE HEAD TO HEAD AND YOURE DEAD

S mall businesses are the backbone of the economy with 97% of businesses having 19 or fewer staff, and 87% employing fewer than five staff. But most small business owners are trying to compete head to head against corporate Goliaths, and subsequently up to 96% ultimately fail.

Business isnt paintball; your competition is playing with live rounds. If you get shot you dont get to sit out for five minutes then rejoin the game youre dead.

If youre fighting fair then you have failed to prepare.

A fair fight means youre playing on their terms and its anyones game. If youre not using all the unique resources available to you to gain an advantage then you are taking a massive gamble, and you will likely join the majority of business owners who go broke.

Theres a place for fighting fair, for rolling the dice, and thats when you dont care if you win or lose thats the place for hobbies. But if you need to win, if your life, your business, your future depends on it, then dont gamble.

If you want to ensure your own business succeeds then you need to learn the art of the Unfair Fight, where you act with total integrity, not playing dirty but playing by your own rules, where you think and act in ways that drive success, and you move beyond the fight to a place where you have transcended the competition.

The year was 1000 BC. The Philistines had gathered for war against Israel, the two armies facing each other on opposite sides of the Valley of Elah. Each day for 40 days, the Philistines sent out one of their men, a giant over nine feet tall, to mock and challenge the Israelites. His name was Goliath.

Saul, the King of Israel, and his whole army were terrified of Goliath.

One day David, a young shepherd, was sent to the battlelines by his father to bring back news of his brothers. While there, David heard Goliath shouting his daily defiance and he responded, Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God?

David wouldnt lay down and be beaten by the bully, so he volunteered to fight Goliath. King Saul wasnt convinced at first. Why did this young man, who had nowhere near the battle experience or stature of Goliath, have the confidence to take on this giant? The king finally agreed to let David fight Goliath, who, while seemingly outmatched, was their only hope of winning. David approached Goliath, simply dressed in a tunic and carrying just a slingshot and a pouchful of stones.

David said to the Philistine, You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty and today I will feed your carcass to the birds.

David knew he had an unfair advantage. But no one else could see it.

As Goliath moved closer, David reached into his bag, took out a stone, placed it in his slingshot, then aimed the stone at Goliaths head. The stone sank into the giants forehead and he fell to the ground. David grabbed Goliaths sword and killed him, and then cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

This is the Unfair Fight.

The Unfair Fight is a way of winning the battle in the face of seeming adversity. The Unfair Fight is a way of playing by your own rules. The Unfair Fight is a way of stepping up with absolute confidence and certainty, knowing victory is yours because you have transcended the competition.

In the Unfair Fight there are three winners: your customers, your employees and you.

Your customers win because you cut straight to whats important to them; you communicate with them by entering the conversation thats already going on in their head; you sell to them by providing solutions in a way they understand and that exceed their needs; you deliver your product or service to them with seamless execution; and you give them the benefit of a single stable supplier.

Your employees win because you create an environment in which they can be their best; you provide a culture in which they can thrive; and you have a business that can reward them better than your competition.

And you win because you make your business stand out from any of the competition as the only logical and emotional choice, and you create long-term sustainable profitability.