Anyone who has something, also has something to defend. But in the corporate world ideas about defense exist neither in training nor in practice. Still, there ought to be a defense strategy for every business and marketing plan.

How many liked to be goalkeeper in school when playing football? But not many matches are won without a goalkeeper. The same is true for the corporate world. We train people to conquer the market, but not to defend it. We are programmed to look in one direction while our long-term earnings are more related to the goalkeeper than we would like to admit.

Many are market leaders because they’ve got an advantage through patents, innovations or staff. All these benefits will eventually cease, and success itself might turn into a disadvantage as it tends to spoil the organization and breed arrogance. Swedish Spotify and Skype were, and are, creators of something, but also creators of competitors. Many people ask us when they will be attacked, and we answer that they will be when they swim slower than others in their surroundings. The time it takes for competitors to copy and catch up is so short, that it is not worth it to be a new player if you cannot defend yourself. You just become an external development team for competitors and defectors.

In nature, all predators have strong defenses. We now hear from many companies who want to focus on defense in Sharkonomics. Market leaders see that they are more prey than predator and want to learn defense so that they will not end up like beached whales.

How you defend your market with Sharkonomics’ 10 strategies:

1. Develop your defense strategies years before you get attacked
2. Never stand still
3. Let others spread the buzz
4. Don’t panic when under shark attack
5. Find out where your blind spots are
6. When entering a new market, don’t send out press releases too early
7. Sharks will not attack you if there is an easier target around
8. Don’t act like a victim
9. Attack is good defence
10. Develop better escape tactics than the hunter