This is one of my favorite business books.

The concept itself is very easy to understand, but it’s definitely worth grasping the detailed strategy proposed in the book.

Simply put, a red ocean is where all the competition is. Companies that are vying for a better product or price are typically stuck in a red ocean - marginal improvements are the best we can hope for in such products or services, and marginal differentiation from one brand to the next.

Blue oceans do something that no one else is doing. Rarely is this an entirely new product or service, but rather a re invention of one that is different from the market standard. This could even mean LESS bells and whistles, cutting production costs and simplifying a product or service. The red ocean competes on new product features, but a blue ocean strategy identifies what is really important to the end user, and focuses on that.

I cannot fully summarize the many ways to form a blue ocean strategy here in this review, and I definitely recommend this book for the theory in full and the many real world examples.

This book does assume a basic understanding of business terms and concepts. It’s not entry-level but it’s also not extraordinarily complicated. It doesn’t use a ton of jargon and the terms that are invented for the strategy are very simple.

I had to read it twice to really grasp it and I’ll surely read it again periodically.

I have used the blue ocean strategy in my own business and online profiles, bringing content to Instagram that wasn’t here before (no one was posting about Dr. Wallach when I started @wallachswarriors , or cell towers when I started @transcendtowers). Those oceans are now red but I still benefit from being there early.

I have had to continually come back to blue ocean thinking when I plan anything in my business. I know I haven’t fully created a blue ocean strategy but this book continues to help me strive for it.

Highly, highly recommend for any business or sales person.