Remember when you were a kid, and you innocently walked down the hallway of your house? Out of nowhere (usually the closet) your big brother or sister would leap out and scare the daylights out of you.
You’d jump, scream and then do one of two things—run away as fast as your legs would take you, or chase your bigger sibling in the belief you were going to pound them to tar.
How did the latter work out for you?
Marketing against a Goliath feels just about the same. When Goliath surprises you, perhaps comes after you because you’ve riled them, you have two choices—run or stay and fight.
The second “Beat Goliath” principle from judo demands we give way to the titan. We’re not running to hide. We’re being flexible.
The second principle: flexibility.
If you’ve got a “Gigantor” coming your way, you’ve got to be prepared to respond to surprise moves. You’ve got to be flexible. The real challenge is learning how to give way before they’ve pinned you to the ground…and mom isn’t coming to rescue you.
Your job: evaluate when the situation becomes unwinnable, and set plans for a tactical retreat to survive.
Most of you really don’t need to worry that your Goliath will wake up and come after Little-Old-You. Most likely, they don’t even know you’re here. But if you begin to make your presence known, they just might want to teach you a lesson.
If they unleash their full strength, it’s going to feel just like it did when your big brother jumped out and chased you. No way you can run fast enough, and it’s sure going to hurt like the devil when he sits on you!
When operating in a market with a Big Guy who looks square at you and starts to run your way, be flexible. This isn’t a battle you want to participate in. Tactically retreat. Perhaps look at Judo Principle #1 we discussed last week and evaluate again your opponent’s weakness…the thing they just can’t change about themselves.
We smart, smaller guys need to take the advantages our really big competitor has—resources, strength, size, money, market awareness—and use it against them.
Be flexible and understand, to survive, sometimes a tactical retreat isn’t the act of a coward, but the smartest kid on the planet. Just ask your mom.
Go forth and do great things.