How to Build a Successful Business

As the saying goes, running a business is like going into war. In Sun Zi Art of War, it is said that when you know the Other Side (your enemy) and Yourself, your victory will not be threatened and when you know the Weather and the Terrain, your victory will be boundless.

When you know the Other Side and Yourself,
Your Victory will not be threatened


When you know the Weather and Terrain,
Your Victory will be Boundless

The idea is simple. To be clear of one's strengths and weaknesses, that is ought to be the case. Rather, the key is to know your enemy in addition for the more you understand your enemy, the better you would be able to strategize your move. Imagine yourself going into a war blindly only to find out that your enemy's army is 10 times the strength of yours, you will be crushed totally (not a wise way to lose). Know your enemy beforehand and you could be prepared (to strategize things to your advantage).

Applying to business context, you need to know your market (consumer needs /competitions) to win your foothold

When you know the other side and yourself

Your victory will not be threatened

The Chinese character 彼 refers to the other side (the other party) while 己 refers to yourself. In short, we are looking at Human factors here - your association with your customers, competitors and partners. So to speak, you need to be clear of your customers (consumer needs) and your competitors and partners (competitions). First and foremost, is your business product in consumer demand? For instance, if you are selling rice to the Chinese market, the consumer demand is definitely there for rice is almost a must in the Chinese's diet. But then again, there are so many competitive brands of rice from all over different countries, what make yours special that your customers want to buy from you?

Clear that you hold the winning prospect, you evaluate next the Weather and the Terrain

When you know the weather and terrain

Your victory will be boundless

In war, weather essentially refers to the season and climate. Seemingly not within our control but if you know the weather well, you can use it to your favor i.e. with aid of dry weather and favorable wind direction blow, you can employ use of fire attack on your enemy. Terrain refers to ground condition, ease of movement and safety i.e. are your troops going to traverse through mountain forest, steep gorge that is open to ambush? In war, we always look at fighting on advantage ground.

In business context, are you operating on Timely Setting (with favorable ground support)?

Relating weather to business functions, we translate it to "Changes and Opportunities". For instance, seasonal festivals e.g. Christmas, Chinese New Year, US Black Friday sales etc would provide you the timely opportunities to make some earnings. But not to forget, there is always the unpredictable "climate change" too i.e. change in the country ruling government party, change in regional business law and regulations, increases in custom taxes, change in products distributorship etc. These changes are beyond our control but that can greatly affect the business operations (we must always stay on the alert of such changes).

Terrain essentially refers to the "Ground Conditions" where your business operates in. To give you an example, let's say you manufacture sedan cars. Is the country where your factory set in safe and conducive with adequate functional support for your business (i.e. labor cost effective, low tax system, politically stable, flexible immigration policies, strategic locations etc)? Next, when you look at selling your cars, it makes wise sense to set your target at the developed countries (rather than undeveloped countries that doesn't have motorways/highways)?

In the art of war, we take power over the controllable forces and adapt our power to the changing circumstances to create victory. In short, we make the best out of what we can control and we adeptly tweak our actions to work what that we cannot control towards the best of our favor.

In Feng Shui context, it meant to say - We take power over Human Luck and Earth Luck (which is within our control), and we tweak them to match Heaven Luck to achieve best outcome. Clearly suggestible then, it is wise to direct your focus and energy on Human and Earth Luck to best fuel your business success (rather than dwelling on your Heaven Luck).

Chinese Philosopher Mencius 孟子 quoted this:

Favorable Weather does not match up to Favorable Terrain
(Heaven Luck is inferior in assess to Earth Luck)

Favorable Terrain is worthless without the right human support
(Earth Luck is insignificant if unsupported by positive human action)

What is the take home message? Move on! Stop whining and complain over what you cannot change (it will get you nowhere). Rather, turn your protest into true actions - Work on your Human Luck where your investment of hard work and effort would better pay off. Let's throw you this scenario. Imagine you are just about to head off for business appointment when it suddenly rains heavily. What would you do? Would you simply grab an umbrella and proceed on, or would you grumble and cancel your appointment?

Not to forget your Earth Luck, certainly work on your earth luck as well (for you have the power over it). And to best acquire Earth Luck, the use of Feng Shui would be the case. Let's take a walk into your company and have a look then. Do you feel vibrant energy presence? We are sure you come across business buildings/offices that feel dead and lifeless (despite them being majestically grand)? In contrast, some smaller and insignificant-looking offices generate great vibrant energy (you feel it the moment you step in). These vibrant energies are what we call life-force (Qi) that shapes the health and vigor of your business. Picture them as wind, you need vital active wind energy to push the sail of your ship (not still motionless energy). A vibrant business with inspiring life-force is how you want your business to be?

Fuel up your Business for Success

Set your business in the right energy
Set sail the future of your business

	Find out also: (click to view)
	What makes a business successful
	Secret to Business Success

Learn more about how Feng Shui can impact your business:

Real-life Feng Shui Case Studies
(how some businesses thrive with success while some fail terribly)

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