Fishing and hunting have lessons for the business owner. Being a hunter and fisherman I often read articles about hunting and fishing strategies. I recently watched a documentary about the whitetail deer population in the US. In 1700 there were approximately one million whitetail deer living in the US. By contrast, today’s estimates exceed thirty million. Why has there been a 30 fold increase in population? The answer: more edges. Whether you are fishing or hunting. you find your quarry on or near the edge of two worlds.
When the US was essentially covered with large tracts of unbroken forests and wide and expansive prairies, deer had limited edges to occupy. As the US population grew, forests were cut down to make room for farmers’ fields and prairie grass was replaced with various crops. Human expansion produced more edges in its relentless push westward. Edges provide a variety of food sources and habitats for shelter. Deer graze on your grass and shrubs, a veritable salad bar, and retreat to the safety of the woods for shelter and protection from the weather.
The same can be said for fish. The middle of the ocean has virtually no fish. But locate an underwater feature like a cap, bank, reef, or shelf, or an area of rapid temperature differences known as a thermocline, and fish exist everywhere along its edge. Edges are the barrier between two worlds and can come in many forms. Land and water, crop boundaries, or changes in terrain or temperature can all produce edges. Businesses have edges, too. It is not effective to just put your hook in the water in the middle of the ocean. You have to fish where the fish are. It is not effective to hunt deer in a vast tract of unbroken forest or on the vast unbroken plains.
You have to hunt the edges. A web page potentially is like a giant ocean or a featureless prairie. It will remain unproductive unless you find the edge where your customers live. Where are the boundaries between your products and services and other products and services that your customers need? The business edge is not about just having a product or service, it is about narrowing your focus to just that edge, where your product or service can make a difference to the customer and align with their other interests.
Is your business focused on the edge where your customers live?
