Why Business Is Like Gravity

Gravitation is the tendency of bodies with mass to accelerate toward each other. General relativity states that mass curves space-time and this causes gravitation between bodies.

A simple analogy would be to compare this idea with a billiard ball in a thin rubber sheet. If the ball is massive enough it will curve the rubber sheet. Any less massive ball that you throw near the billiard ball on the rubber sheet will move toward the billiard ball. The same happens in space-time. That's why bodies with mass tend to attract each other.

Now, how can you apply this to business? You see something similar every day in the business world and you probably don't notice it. In fact I think this concept is present in most social interactions between humans.

Let me explain. Big businesses often take over small businesses and become bigger. Many start ups are sold to the competitors. Some big companies may feel that you are a potential danger for them. If they think they could lose ground if you grow big, they may contact you and make you an offer.

Small businesses tend to gravitate toward big businesses. The big companies acquire smaller ones and become bigger. In fact many small business owners dream about being purchased by big brother; The problem is that big brother is not always interested nor willing to pay the price they ask.

Anyway, big companies can also force the little guy to go bankrupt even unintentionally. They have the funds to back up unexpected international economic problems. They can purchase millions of products from the distributors and get big discounts. They can lower the prices and realize smaller profits (5 cents per product) just to get rid off some competition.

The little guy has two options then: adapt to the changes or go out of business. That's why I say that small businesses gravitate toward big businesses. There is a way you can get rid off these hassles though: by creating a gravity of your own.

In the physical world you can do this by getting a large mass and compressing it into a very small space. In theoretical physics this is called a singularity. It is like getting all the mass of the Sun and compressing it into a ball the size of a baseball ball. By doing this you will curve space-time in such a way that is indescribable.

Another way to do it is by accelerating a body with mass at very high speed. Remember that relativistic mass increases with speed. Also forces experienced by objects undergoing constant acceleration are indistinguishable from those in a gravitational field. For example, when you move upward in an elevator you feel heavier, because you feel the effect of the force of gravity plus the effect of the upward acceleration.

If you accelerate a body with large mass close to the speed of light, you will create a very strong gravitational field. To do this requires a lot of energy as the mass will increase with the increase in speed and you will need more and more energy to keep accelerating it. Anyway, you get the idea. This is basic Physics.

Now, how can you apply this to business? Simple. I will show you an analogy here. First you need to start accelerating. Be in motion! Even if you are not completely sure how you are going to achieve your goal. To get there you will need to move. Action makes the difference. You can correct the direction of your efforts later if you need to.

To get rid off the competition, you need to create a product or service that no one has created before. This new thing you create must be wanted and useful. Imagine it this way: the better the product or service, the larger its mass. If it is really heavy it can generate lots of profits for you. The better the idea the more money you can make from it.

In other article I show that it is better to sell intangible mass-less stuff like software and information. I am not contradicting myself here. The analogy that I am showing you now has to do with how useful and desirable a product is. If it is cool, it is heavy, a great idea, then it can make you a lot of money.

Now, once you have this large mass you need to accelerate it. The most common way to do this is through a start up. You put the product on the marketplace and apply a lot of energy at the beginning. You accelerate your profits by announcing your innovation to the world. You make a vast amount of individuals know about your product or service.

This usually takes a few years. The fact is that when big brother notice it, you would have most likely made a fortune already. Once your competitors (big and small) find out that your thing is profitable, they will come running. They will try to imitate it, steal it, design around it or purchase it. By that time, whatever they do and whatever you choose to do won't matter that much. The important part would be already history.

It is like surfing. Timing is everything. You need to jump over the big waves on time. If you are number one marketing a profitable product, and you know what you are doing, I don't see how can you lose. You will arrive first than big brother. That, my friend, is a very good thing.

Obviously, at that time, you can negotiate, sell the whole product to your competitors for a few or several millions cash, and retire. You can also, sell part of it and receive royalties, etc. A third option I see is to keep pushing against the competitors who ultimately noticed the little guy was growing up.

As I already mentioned, whatever happens, the important part is history. You made the money. You got the profits. You are happy enjoying life. An easy option would be to come up with another good idea and do the same thing again. This would be mostly for fun though, because if you hit it hard and it is a home run, you could become rich in the first try.