Are you tired of fighting the competition?Would you like to have the competitive advantages of more business and higher profits?Then take a trip to the Blue Ocean.
The Blue Ocean as described by the authors W.
Chan Kim and Reneee Mauborgne who wrote Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant is where your business needs to be.
Kim and Mauborgne researched more than 30 industries over the course of 100 years to revealed that by creating what they called value innovation through strategic moves allows businesses to make powerful leaps within their market places.
They shared these 6 key principles.

1. Reconstruct market boundaries that allow you to break from the competition and therefore create blue oceans
2. Focus on the big picture and not just the numbers
3. Reach beyond the existing demand
4. Get the strategic sequence right
5. Overcome key organizational hurdles
6. Build execution into strategy

Each principle receives detailed explanation.
However a couple of facts remain exceedingly clear:

• If you do not have a strategic plan you will have great difficulty to creating a blue ocean.
  
• If you have not taken the time to learn how to think strategically, you will experience difficulty in creating a blue ocean

The authors also provided 4 simple questions that can prime the pump of innovative thinking.

1. What can I create?
2. What can I eliminate?
3. What can I raise?
4. What can I reduce?

By using these four guiding questions along with the six principles, the executive management team can begin to think differently about their business.
Possibly, they can achieve the competitive advantage afforded by theBlue Ocean success that others have realized at least once such as:

• The Model T
• General Motors
• Fuel efficient cars
• Chrysler's minivan

And if the business did its homework correct, it may find itself alone in a blue ocean such as Cirque du Soleil.
Even though Blue Ocean Strategy is identified as a marketing book, this book is truly a book on the how of business success through business strategy.
Regardless if you are a single office/home office, a small business, a mid-size business or a huge corporation, this book is truly a must read if you want to have a competitive advantage,business success and eventually a lot more sleep filled nights.