Insights on Profit Logic from 'The Art of War'
'The Art of War' states: "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never lose a battle." The marketplace and the battlefield are fundamentally connected; strategy, resources, intelligence, and execution are the keys to victory.
I. Strategy: Direction Determines Success or Failure
Avoid the Solid and Attack the Weak: Microsoft abandons hardware competition and enters the market with its operating system, establishing barriers like "surrounding Wei to rescue Zhao."
Seize the Opportunity: Apple defeats Nokia with a 'lightning war' through smartphones, proving that "choice is more important than effort."
II. Resources: Concentrate Advantages to Break Through
Logistical Thinking: Alibaba received early investment from SoftBank, using capital as "logistics" to survive the cash-burning period and eventually become a business giant.
Precise Investment: A small restaurant focuses on upgrading its dishes and marketing, achieving a 30-fold increase in daily revenue per store, practicing the principle of "concentrating forces."
III. Intelligence: Information Disparity Equals Competitive Advantage
Deep Insights: Warren Buffett reads financial reports daily to build an information barrier, successfully avoiding risks before the 2008 financial crisis.
Rapid Response: During the pandemic, a company shifted production to masks in 72 hours, achieving a profit of 20 million yuan in three months, winning through "sharp intelligence."
IV. Execution: Victory Lies in Action
Extreme Practice: Liu Qiangdong refines logistics by delivering packages, Huang Zheng stays up late optimizing algorithms, and Zhang Yiming meticulously polishes products, establishing an advantage with "general-like execution capability."
Conclusion: The essence of business is the game of "cognition, resources, and execution power." Define direction with strategy, use resources as ammunition, observe opportunities with intelligence, and demonstrate true capability through execution, thus achieving 'victory without fighting' on the battlefield of commerce.