Let's go back to the cat family. I can't get enough of them. So which of the cat family should we talk about?

This cat is the smallest of the four big cats. The other three are Tiger, Lion, and Jaguar.

This cat is the least social and the most elusive of the big African cats (jaguars are usually found in South America while India is the home for tigers).

This cat either ambushes its prey or stalks it as a hunting technique. It tries to get as close as it can to the prey. After which, it runs, pounces and kills the prey with a bite to the neck, all in one move. Sleek, right?

The key tactic of this cat is the element of surprise. Once the hunt turns to a foot race, the cat backs down.

This cat is called the Leopard.

It must compete for food and shelter with other large predators, e.g. Lions and Hyenas, who steal food from it and sometimes kill it.

Thus, Leopards co-exists with these bigger competitors by hunting for different types of prey and avoiding areas frequented by them. It will retreat up a tree in the face of direct aggression to hide and eat its food.

The Leopard's main prey is the Antelope. However, it has an ancient enmity with the Baboon. More on baboons later.

In any and every economy/market, there will be competition, and if you are upcoming and/or smaller than your competitors, you are in for a rough ride. But like leopards, you need to know and work on two things: market niche and market fit.

The Leopard will never hunt a buffalo, much less an elephant. It knows and respects its limitations. And because it lives with bigger competitors, it focuses on what they won't focus on.

Quickie: face your focus. Don't be distracted by what others are hunting. Don't take on more than your skill set can handle.

The Leopard carved out a market niche for itself; antelopes or smaller animals. Although lions hunt antelopes too; the larger the pride, the bigger the prey they need. Your large competitors won't want to waste resources serving 10 or 100 people when they can serve 1,000.

Dear reader, go for the 10, serve the under-served. Own the customers often ignored by others.

Market fit is providing the right product/ service for your market niche. That means that when you identify your niche, you must make sure you are able to provide the service it needs.

If a leopard gets lucky and kills a buffalo or bigger animal, it can never carry it up a tree. The food will go to its competitors. But with the right prey, it will easily go up the tree and eat in peace. Your product/service must...