Serious Biz Question: Big Fish / Little Fish?

[Dravyk]

Where do you see the best ROI, the best place to put your efforts, generally speaking?

A big fish (maybe the biggest fish) in a small pond / niche / microniche?

Little fish in a gigantic ocean?

Talking overall business, not just adult. Biz, commerce in general.

[Hell Puppy]

Where do you see the best ROI, the best place to put your efforts, generally speaking?

A big fish (maybe the biggest fish) in a small pond / niche / microniche?

Little fish in a gigantic ocean?

Talking overall business, not just adult. Biz, commerce in generl.

Little fish get swallowed.

There's always power in dominating market share.

[JoesHO]

The big fish always want to fuck you, and will inevitabley not pay you what you are worth ( only for the time necassary so you better score quick and large upfront)

Niche and micro niche a great but you must live and breath the niche, one can not fake it cause it is a hip niche or you will not reach your marketplace correctly

Little fish in a gigantic ocean will always be more forgiving of any errors, and you will always be able to capture some market share, there will always be people looking for the best ( perception) , cheapest, fastest, etc gidget that you are pushing so I think the best place is here . cause if you by cance do find the right widget and it takes off in this market, the customer base is enormous and will always grow .

[Dravyk]

Little fish in a gigantic ocean will always be more forgiving of any errors, and you will always be able to capture some market share, there will always be people looking for the best ( perception) , cheapest, fastest, etc gidget that you are pushing so I think the best place is here . cause if you by cance do find the right widget and it takes off in this market, the customer base is enormous and will always growGood stuff, Joe! (And HP!) But just to be devil's advocate ...

In that last line ... isn't the little fish in the ocean morphing into the big fish of the small pond? http://oprano.com/msgboard/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Hell Puppy]

Both can and do work.

I think it comes down to the psychology and personality of the fish involved.

Some people are by nature very competitive and want to dominate at whatever they do. They'll have huge successes and huge ugly failures. Others are more comfortable swimming in the relatively safety of the school of guppies.

I think Joe's scenario is the opportunistic guppie who is content to swim quietly until he see's the opportunity to turn into a whale.

[Vick]

Business - I'd rather be the whale

Personal - I'd rather be the little fish

[EroticySteve]

I like Google, Big fish in a big ocean.


However, you could make the argument that they are a school of predatory fish that will command and conquer any viable food (revenue) source.

[gonzo]

I like Google, Big fish in a big ocean.


However, you could make the argument that they are a school of predatory fish that will command and conquer any viable food (revenue) source.

I love Google after last week!

[PornoDoggy]

Chicken or egg?

[Nickatilynx]

Where do you see the best ROI, the best place to put your efforts, generally speaking?

A big fish (maybe the biggest fish) in a small pond / niche / microniche?

Little fish in a gigantic ocean?

Talking overall business, not just adult. Biz, commerce in general.

Sorry , gone fishing :)

[TheEnforcer]

Which one gets me the most money?

[Bhelliom]

I'm starting to think there isn't anything such as a Mass market anymore. There is no One big market for everyone to grab a piece of. everything seems to be moving towards niches. Millions and millions of niches worldwide. I'm not talking just online or adult. take Coca-cola for example. They USED to be a mass marketer. with coke classic as their product. now how many different niches has coke moved into? coke, diet, caffeine free, diet caffeine free, C2, whatever else they've got and other pop products. I think in that respect we're all just trying to be the biggest fish we can. But to do that ... its not the ocean that matters... its finding the RIGHT pond....

[Bhelliom]

Did that make sense to anyone else? Made sense in my head but I don't think I wrote it right...

[ThrobX]

Tough question to answer, because there are so many more variables. In general, I'd rather be a small fish in a big pond, for three reasons:

A] greater growth potential;

B] smaller operations have an easier time quickly shifting gears and exploiting new opportunities that present themselves; and

C] small fish tend to have a larger number of big fish who can buy them out (if you're a "build and flip" kind of person).

But it really depends on how big the "pond" is, how many other small fish and big fish there are, etc. If you're a big fish in a very small pond, it's easy to dominate today, but where can you go tomorrow? You may have low growth potential, as well as few who could buy you out. Once you eat all the small fish, you have no more food and you starve a slow death. If I were in a small pond, maybe I'd want to be a medium fish. :yowsa:

I guess maybe the best business for a big fish in a small pond is to sell fish food, so you eat at wholesale and sustain all the small fish? :)

[Dravyk]

C] small fish tend to have a larger number of big fish who can buy them out (if you're a "build and flip" kind of person).

But it really depends on how big the "pond" is, how many other small fish and big fish there are, etc. If you're a big fish in a very small pond, it's easy to dominate today, but where can you go tomorrow? You may have low growth potential, as well as few who could buy you out. Once you eat all the small fish, you have no more food and you starve a slow death. If I were in a small pond, maybe I'd want to be a medium fish. :yowsa:

I guess maybe the best business for a big fish in a small pond is to sell fish food, so you eat at wholesale and sustain all the small fish? :)You're right that there are a lot of variables and that the question was purposely phrased to be simple (because how could you do a poll with a hundred variables?)

That said ... I'm for the big fish in the small pond for a variety of reasons.

To this: "small fish tend to have a larger number of big fish who can buy them out" and this: "Once you eat all the small fish, you have no more food and you starve a slow death." I say no. A big fish can be bought out from a bigger fish in a bigger pond. :)

Also to this: "Once you eat all the small fish, you have no more food and you starve a slow death." I'd have to reply. No, you don't starve a slow death, o contraire; you now have a monopoly! :okthumb:

[Nickatilynx]

If you are a big fish in a small pond eventually people notice what a nice pond you have and turn it into a fish farm :)

[EroticySteve]

Bhelliom makes a good point. Any good brand will diversify and increase market share in related verticals as well. Coca Cola or Pepsi Co are good examples for that reason. To control the Cola market was the first step, however it would be an on going and never ending competition. They can beat eachother at some of the smaller niches of the soft drink market.

Which brings me to filtered bottled water. What a great idea. Tap water, put it through a Brita filter and put it in a bottle. Take what would have cost a fraction of a penny put it in a bottle with a label and now have a new product. Sell it for as much as soda. WOW.

[Bhelliom]

Thanks steve. That was why I used the cola guys as an example

[Dravyk]

If you are a big fish in a small pond eventually people notice what a nice pond you have and turn it into a fish farm :)http://www.sib.hb.se/norrland/homer_drool.gif Mmmm.... Caviar!

[The Other Steve]

Big fish in a little pond grow to the point where there is no further potential for growth. At that point they begin to stagnate and eventually die.

For a little fish in a big pond - especially if they are a product to sell and a burning desire to succeed - will never stagnate.

Life may not be easy for them but they'll have a lot of fun as they grow.

Improvise, adapt and overcome.

[Dravyk]

Big fish in a little pond grow to the point where there is no further potential for growth. At that point they begin to stagnate and eventually die.Ok, this is where the fish analogy fails!

At that point, a company (big fish) needs to diversify (into other ponds) or die.


Hmm. To keep the fish analogy alive ... another way to put it is, at that point the big fish needs to evolve. http://oprano.com/msgboard/images/smilies/wink.gif

[DannyCox]

Our revenue always came from the "Big Fish in a Little Pond" scenario. Many, many years ago, we decided to stay in our Niche markets, and leave the "who's gotta bigger dick" mentality to the Big Pond people. We sat back, quietly relaxing in our Little Pond, while the Big Pond fishies all decimated themselves.

We're still here, still making money, but where are the fish that all decided to go and play in the Big Pond? Even the Big Fish from those days are no more ;)

Sometimes I even surprise myself with my inane drivel :yowsa:

[Nickatilynx]

Our revenue always came from the "Big Fish in a Little Pond" scenario. Many, many years ago, we decided to stay in our Niche markets, and leave the "who's gotta bigger dick" mentality to the Big Pond people. We sat back, quietly relaxing in our Little Pond, while the Big Pond fishies all decimated themselves.

We're still here, still making money, but where are the fish that all decided to go and play in the Big Pond? Even the Big Fish from those days are no more ;)

Sometimes I even surprise myself with my inane drivel :yowsa:

Us medium size fish are still swimming along , feeding :)

[DannyCox]

Us medium size fish are still swimming along , feeding :)

But, "Medium Fish" weren't the topic ;) Most of the Medium Fish I know from the "old days" are still happily swimming along.

[ThrobX]

To this: "small fish tend to have a larger number of big fish who can buy them out" and this: "Once you eat all the small fish, you have no more food and you starve a slow death." I say no. A big fish can be bought out from a bigger fish in a bigger pond. :)

Ah, so we're jumping ponds now, eh? That's the bigger hidden secret. ;)

Also to this: "Once you eat all the small fish, you have no more food and you starve a slow death." I'd have to reply. No, you don't starve a slow death, o contraire; you now have a monopoly! :okthumb:

Point well taken, I didn't phrase it right. I was trying to make a point about limited growth. Monopolies can be cool... unless the pond wasn't that big to begin with. It all depends on the niche, yet another variable like I mentioned.