#166 Thoughts on Entering the Mainstream Market (10/08/2025)

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but after serious consideration, I feel that when a business reaches a certain stage, from a holistic perspective, expanding into the mainstream is perhaps the only viable option. Often in life, it seems like you can make your own decisions, but in reality, you don't truly have the control to try. In many situations, if you carefully observe the decisions you make in your life, after weighing all the options available to you, you only have one more reasonable approach. Similarly, when a company reaches this level, entering the mainstream will likely be the only more reasonable option at that point.

This is ideal for the vast majority of consumers: they can get the same or even better quality products at a lower price. In the market, your competitors will also use their cost advantage to pressure you, so to compete, you need to become just as large and leverage that cost advantage along with other strengths. If you continue to operate on a very small scale, you may gradually be eliminated by most businesses or only be able to maintain a small-scale, niche business. This is the case with UNIQLO, small boutiques, IKEA, and small furniture stores. For most people, the mass production of large corporations allows them to buy reasonably priced products, improving their lives without incurring exorbitant costs. Of course, large companies cannot satisfy all price ranges in the market. Therefore, small businesses can survive as long as they find their niche and meet the needs of a smaller segment of the market. Hence, the market is not only dominated by UNIQLO, Tam Yat, McDonald's, and IKEA, but also by other small companies and brands.

Having established the above, let's discuss another matter: regarding advancement and retreat, we should expand into mainstream matters. Most companies start small, and when they reach a certain point, they will inevitably encounter a bottleneck, where they hit a certain level of business, and then they will consider the question: should I move up another level?

Going up another level is highly likely to lead to a bad gamble. Throughout history, countless people have misjudged their situation, mistakenly believing they could make a fortune. The result was disastrous consequences: not only did they fail to make money (which is a minor issue, as money is readily available), but they also lost everything, leaving their wives and children homeless, even leading to divorce and separation – a much bigger problem. They ruined what could have been a stable and fulfilling life, ending in despair, and the subsequent regret lasted a lifetime. Only a very small number of people are able to accurately assess the situation and their own abilities, making the right judgment about whether to advance or retreat.

Assuming the above is established again, you want to take your career to the next level. When you've exhausted all your knowledge and ideas to do your best, whether you can actually achieve it is another question. But how do you accurately assess yourself? There are many ways to find clues; as long as you remain objective, you can make a judgment, but I won't discuss that here. However, I quite believe what The Lean Startup says: entrepreneurship (or, to paraphrase, many things in life) is actually a process of continuous correction and improvement. Therefore, it's very likely that you need to actually get involved to know, and the company's product and direction may constantly adjust their course as it grows.

We've been discussing this topic for so long, and honestly, I'm standing at this crossroads, a little unsure of what to do. Many who are too hasty fail, while many who try to be more stable end up falling behind and being eliminated. In short: difficult!