Know your enemy, know your self . . .

Modern warfare writings (Sun- Tzu, The Art of Warfare) and traditional philosophy (Socratic teachings) identify the two key tenants of any business strategy: Know your enemy and know your self . . .

Understanding your competition (the Enemy) allows you to understand the market, the opportunity and to proactively react to his strategies to gain market share. Whenever someone tells me "there is no competition," I know immediately that entrepreneur doesn't know his market.

Knowing yourself helps you address your own short comings. if you can't be the low cost provider due to lack of economies of scale or distribution channels, then your marketing strategy has to be about something other than price. Maybe it's service, maybe it's responsiveness. But knowing your weaknesses allows you to compensate for them in the market.