Starting a Business: The Second Best Strategy

Starting a new business idea is super challenging especially when you are competing with a handful of similar businesses for a share of the market. No matter how unique your idea is their will certainly be an established company that is already doing something similar and at the top of the market food chain.

A lot of new startups come into the industry thinking they can disrupt the status quo, only to realize that breaking through requires more than just a great idea. It demands sleepless nights, hard work, thinking and altering strategies, getting a customer base, and years of persistence and not giving up before gaining any traction. Even if you have huge capital for marketing and hiring, and come out with a strong momentum from day one, you cannot become the top business in your field without experience and enduring losses before achieving the huge wins.

Having built and worked on multiple startups, I truly believe that there is a customer for any business idea. However, many new founders get drunk on high expectations and talk about how their idea is much better than the leaders in the market without having even put pen to paper.

WHAT IS THE SECOND BEST STRATEGY?
To explain this strategy in an easy way, I’ll give you a comparison. Think about a sports competition like basketball. We have multiple levels like college basketball (NCAA) and professional leagues (NBA). A new team cannot directly enter the big league thinking they will win the title from the first season, even if they have huge investors and open budgets.

For a new basketball team to be successful and win the league, the internal pyramid structure from the president to the investors and board members, to the coaches, physical therapists, doctors, and down to the support staff should all be on the same mentality and vision. You cannot build such a pyramid from day one. A team is built over years to get everyone aligned and committed to the same goal. This kind of organizational structure doesn’t happen overnight. It requires time, experiences, wins and losses, and a culture that’s been developed at every level of the organization.

In order for a basketball team to win the competition, they usually set a long term strategy with different goals for every season. For example, in the first season, the goal would be to reach the final 8 and maintain this position. Then they set a goal to reach the final 4, and only after achieving that consistency do they set their sights on winning the title.

Hence, the second best strategy means to climb the ladder step by step. Set a goal to become the second best and reach that phase before thinking on how to take the throne.

The businesses that last aren’t the ones that sprint to first place directly. They are the ones that climb strategically. If you’re in the early stages of your startup journey, aim for second best first. You’ll learn more, build stronger, and when it’s time to take the lead, you’ll actually be ready for it.

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