The Phoenix experiment

You are an entrepreneur, a business unit manager, a sales executive, and you are doing well, but not as great as you would like. You feel something is missing, something that could change everything, in terms of revenue growth or profitability. You also know new competitors are now or about to enter your target market.

Try the Phoenix experiment.

The Phoenix is a mythical bird which dies and then is reborn again, arising from the ashes of its predecessor. It is a good illustration  of Schumpeter 's law of creative destruction, which describes the cyclical nature of any business. Rise, Dominate, Die, and Rise again.

The thought experiment I suggest is very simple. Imagine your current business does not exist anymore.  How would you restart it ? How would you behave if, instead of being an existing player, you would be a new comer ?

You can ask yourself the following questions :

1. Would you sell the same product ? or can you sell something more appealing to consumers?
2.  Would you price it in the same way ? Could you rent it instead of selling it ?
3. Would you go for the same customers ? Or would you choose to target other market segments that you may have neglected so far?
4. Would you go direct, or would you work with the same partners ? Others ? If yes, who ?
5. Would you launch in the same city / region / country ? Are there alternatives ?

6. Would you hire the same type of people ? Or would you look for a different type of skillset / experience ?

7. If you were the new kid on the block, How would you take market share away from thr current market leaders (including your current employer)?

And so on. The Phoenix thought experiment allows you to see what could be done if  you had to do it all over again. New entrants can break into your business space because they have identified  gap(s) you have not been able to detect or address.  By thinking like "the enemy", you can reduce your vulnerabilities, and build higher barriers to entry.

The Phoenix is not immortal because it can not die, it is immortal because it can reinvent itself, again and again. It is immortal because it does not fear to change, even if this change may seem to destroy it entirely. Harnessing the law of entropy to create stronger, faster, better ways to grow and dominate. There is nothing better than being a Phoenix - outliving linear thinking businesses, which never imagine how they could end and who/ what could deliver the fatal blow.

Want to become a Phoenix ? Then just ask yourself  "If I had to do it all over again, what would I do differently ?

#startups #entrepreneurship #strategy