Build your business moat by identifying your business’s weaknesses and how to kill it before you start

I stumbled upon the concept of “economic moat”, popularised by Warren Buffett in his shareholder letters. In his letters, he discusses about the benefits of building one for your business and how to sustain it.

As Shark Tank exploded in popularity, everyone seemed to realise the importance of business moats. Though on paper, it is fantastic, building one is not as easy as it appears. Even tougher for existing businesses as not all past decisions can be reversed with ease

At the start of this year, I undertook a thought experiment, figuring out how to destroy my own business. Slowly but steadily I could identify multiple weak spots, that anyone could exploit easily. As I began focusing on the easiest things to fix first, I could observe small changes that I felt confident would help me in the long term

Ideally, If I had undertaken this process way earlier, it would have saved me a lot of headaches. So for anyone starting a new business:

• Once you have your idea think about how your competitors might try to take you down.
  • Figure out their moves by stepping into their shoes
• Plug those holes before they even appear.
• Soon you would have built yourself a business moat

Project Premortem