Look for the Flow / by Alexander Lyadov

Everyone has probably seen footage from National Geographic of bears feasting on fat salmon in the headwaters. Pacific salmon are an anadromous type of migratory fish that hatch from their eggs in freshwater ponds and migrate to the sea for 5-6 years to travel hundreds of miles upriver as adults and return to their starting point to spawn. The bear doesn’t need to invent anything - just take the right spot on the waterfall. The fish will jump into its mouth by itself, driven by the irresistible instinct of reproduction. The salmon’s migration against all odds is a process that exists by itself. Knowing that such a pattern objectively exists allows the bear to become its beneficiary, arriving in time to distribute the dividends.

A popular view in business is that consumer demand needs to be actualized or even created. But from a resource-use perspective, this is terribly inefficient. It’s like a bear going down to the sea for a long time to meet a salmon, or a crocodile chasing a Gnu antelope across the plain. It’s no accident that the “secret” of the commercial real estate industry is “Location, location, location.” Whether it’s gold mining in the Klondike or shawarma in Amsterdam Station, business success depends on picking a location where the Flow is initially there.

You don’t have to chase everyone who in any way resembles customers, trying to shake them up, seduce them or change their minds. It is much more productive to stop and carefully observe what is happening in one, two and three segments of the market. If you notice something curious, it makes sense to get in touch and ask open-ended questions. But don’t try at all costs to pull your hypothesis over reality like a tight glove. Eventually, even in total darkness, you are sure to feel the pull of the air or the flow of the river. Next, like in the children’s game “Cold and Hot,” you will make an optimization of the options. Congratulations, you’re in the right time, in the right place, to create stunning value for consumers and for yourself.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander


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