Talk about print on demand, shout out to these guys @ SanFranPsycho.comWe also checked out HUFF, nice set up!Our Sales Manager Lando and The Iron Lady > Hayes/Octavia, San Francisco.CAJohn from (Crooks) stopped by and showed some love to the BlackGrapes Camp > We got you!We love Grenades! Wait until we show the clusterYou know the camp must end the final shot of the day w/ Princess Gianna!

Perfect definition of ‘Stay Hungry, but Stay Humble’ See the picture!

BlackGrapes paid a visit to support a local clothing company. Remy Topacio Hillo, the owner of  Dopeness Monster Clothing greeted the heads of BGC with open arms, thank you. We must say this line is really living up to their name ‘Inspired by laid back lifestyle’. With a dope concept, and a creative line, DM got something going on. Please check them out @ http://www.dopenessmonster.com & http://www.facebook.com/dopenessmonster #BGC Chris of BGC, Remy of DM and Gee of BGC

Thanks to Genevieve Chanelle for the love she showed BlackGrapes (BlackGrapes x Elusive Collab Tee)

It’s been a good ride so far…

…So we decided to detour for a little bit! <San Leandro, Ca.>

Princess Gianna ‘Gigi’ is always around BlackGrapes business, so you know everyones at their best behavior when the Princess is around. Big ups to the pretty little Princess always upbeat and never shy to try new things. Here’s some captured moments from the BGC lenses of the future Boss of BGC.

I went to an event on this beautiful afternoon, and what caught my attention is not the bike itself, but who rode it. In everything, we must take time to share what we love with our love ones. I know I do with my little princess Gianna, so here it goes check this out! -Gee of BGC

‘I took a trip out to Sacramento, Ca. to visit my little princess. I must say, Sacramento greeted me with hot weather. So the little BlackGrapes princess got her water gun out and started to enjoy the day squirting everyone!

Based on Mark McNeilly’s book Sun Tzu and the Art of Business

1) Capture Your Market Without Destroying It

“Generally in war, the best policy is to take a state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this….For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”
–Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu calls this the need to “win-all-without-fighting”. Since the goal of your business is to survive and prosper, you must capture your market. However, you must do so in such a way that your market is not destroyed in the process. A company can do this in several ways, such as attacking parts of the market that are under-served or by using subtle, indirect, and low-key approach that will not draw a competitor’s attention or response. What should be avoided at all costs is a price-war. Research has shown that price attacks draw the quickest and most aggressive responses from competitors, as well as leaving the market drained of profits.

2) Avoid your competitor’s strength, and attack their weakness

“An army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness.”
–Sun Tzu

The Western approach to warfare has spilled over into business competition, leading many companies to launch head-on, direct attacks against their competitor’s strongest point. This approach to business strategy leads to battles of attrition, which end up being very costly for everyone involved. Instead, you should focus on the competition’s weakness, which maximizes your gains while minimizing the use of resources. This, by definition, increases profits.

3) Use foreknowledge & deception to maximize the power of business intelligence.

“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril”
–Sun Tzu

To find and exploit your competitor’s weakness requires a deep understanding of their executives’ strategy, capabilities, thoughts and desires, as well as similar depth of knowledge of your own strengths and weaknesses. It is also important to understand the overall competitive and industry trends occurring around you in order to have a feel for the “terrain” on which you will do battle. Conversely, to keep your competitor from utilizing this strategy against you, it is critical to mask your plans and keep them secret.

4) Use speed and preparation to swiftly overcome the competition.

“To rely on rustics and not prepare is the greatest of crimes; to be prepared beforehand for any contingency is the greatest of virtues.”
–Sun Tzu

To fully exploit foreknowledge and deception, Sun Tzu states that you must be able to act with blinding speed. To move with speed does not mean that you do things hastily. In reality, speed requires much preparation. Reducing the time it takes your company to make decisions, develop products and service customers is critical. To think through and understand potential competitive reactions to your attacks is essential as well.

5) Use alliances and strategic control points in the industry to “shape” your opponents and make them conform to your will.

“Therefore, those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him.”
–Sun Tzu

“Shaping you competition” means changing the rules of contest and making the competition conform to your desires and your actions. It means taking control of the situation away from your competitor and putting it in your own hands. One way of doing so is through the skillful use of alliances. By building a strong web of alliances, the moves of your competitors can be limited. Also, by controlling key strategic points in your industry, you will be able to call the tune to which your competitors dance.

6) Develop your character as a leader to maximize the potential of your employees.

“When one treats people with benevolence, justice and righteousness, and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders.”
–Sun Tzu

It takes a special kind of leader to implement these strategic concepts and maximize the tremendous potential of employees. Sun Tzu describes the many traits of the preferred type of leader. The leader should be wise, sincere, humane, courageous, and strict. Leaders must also always be “first in the toils and fatigues of the army”, putting their needs behind those of their troops. It is leaders with character that get the most out of their employees.

These principles have been utilized throughout time in both the military arena and the business world to build creative strategies and achieve lasting success. If you use them properly, they will bring you success as well.

To All My Soldiers <click on the purple link> -Gee of BlackGrapes Family Collection