Infographic comparing “Red Ocean” and “Blue Ocean” strategies, showing red ocean as competing in an existing market with many fish and a shark, and blue ocean as creating a new market with open space and no competition.

Blue Ocean Strategy

April 28, 20261 min read

If you’re running a business right now, especially a small one, you know what it feels like to compete for attention, customers, margin, and time.

But I want to offer a different path. A calmer one. Not a red ocean full of sharks fighting over scraps.

A blue ocean, where there’s room to breathe, grow, and create something meaningful.

I read Blue Ocean Strategy years ago, but the image never left me. In the red ocean, everyone’s trying to beat everyone else. It’s aggressive. It’s stressful. It’s loud. But the blue ocean? That’s where the water’s clear. That’s where you stop fighting and start focusing.

You don’t need to be a hero to everyone. You just need to be a hero to someone.

When you get clear on who that “someone” is, who you really want to serve, connect with, and build for, then everything shifts. Your voice gets clearer. Your product gets better. You’re not in competition anymore and you’re in collaboration with people who believe what you believe.

In Who Not How, Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy talk about how we get stuck trying to do everything ourselves. But when you find your “who,” progress multiplies and the guilt, the grind, the second-guessing fades. That same principle applies to customers, too. When you choose your “who,” your “how” gets so much lighter.

So… who are you here for? That’s your blue ocean. Pick your people and show up for them. and watch the competition melt into connection.

Eileen Voyles

Co-founder, Yokl, Inc.

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