Most Oceans are Purple

If you’re a little lost by the title, there’s a classic business idea of the “blue ocean”. If you’re in a competitive industry (read: sharks), you’re in a red ocean. There’s blood in the water. If you’re in an industry with no competition, you’re in a blue ocean. There’s lots of space. And no blood.

The reality is most oceans are purple. Very rarely can you jump into a completely blue ocean. There’s always someone competing – or there will be very quickly.

But great companies come up with ways to add a blue ocean element to their services. Uber didn’t invent the taxi or the private driver. But they figured out how to add a blue ocean component to it. Nobody was doing the app well. That means they had a new opportunity.

In business, almost all oceans are purple. There’s fierce competition, but there are also ways where people aren’t competing. Finding and locking onto those blue areas is what makes a business different.