About Purpose is about your purpose.
Aim: Identify and articulate your purpose.
Arm: Shape yourself around your purpose.
Act: Achieve your purpose.
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Squirrel v. Hawk: Competing with the Big Guy
©2011, About Purpose, Inc.
A big hawk, silently watching from a perch in the woods, is waiting to swoop down on some unsuspecting prey. The grey squirrels were having none of it. They pestered the hawk, scampering up the tree toward him, leaping from other branches to land near him, chattering noisily. The hawk moved away, one tree at a time, only to be harassed and chased again. Eventually, it moved to the edge of the woods, where it saw its chances of a morning snack ebbing away. And it flew off.
We see this being played out in nature all the time – small birds dive bombing and chasing off an eagle, or a miniature poodle tearing after and scaring off a big Labrador. Take heart, small businesses and organizations. We have power to compete with the big dogs.
Be nimble, be quick. Turn those things commonly seen as weaknesses into strengths. Be purposeful and deliberate about it. We can’t fight the hawk on its terms. If we are stuck in a long, swooping flight path, it will out-fly us every time. If we ignore its presence among us, it will gradually take over our markets or our funding sources. If we try to “go it alone” it will defeat us. Here are some examples of areas in which we can excel against larger competitors.
Because of our structure, we can change directions easily. We can dart from market to market, meeting changing needs even as they are discovered.
Because of our size, we can make decisions and deploy resources rapidly, responding to the evolving needs of our customers and the changing circumstances of our vendors, supply chains, and financing.
Because of the first two, we can forge strategic relationships with others to create mini-strike forces. We can combine resources, complement each other’s strengths, and supplement each other’s weaknesses.
Because of scale, we can more easily finance start-up ventures by bootstrapping, joint ventures, shared marketing, bartered services, combined administration, etc.
Be nimble, be quick. Proactively plan to use structure, size and scale as offensive weapons rather than see them as weaknesses. That hawk will always keep coming back to the woods, but if the squirrels are vigilant and aggressive, it won’t find much to eat.