5 Strategies from Ancient Chinese Warfare to Help Us Thrive in Changing Times The strategies are surprisingly relevant to the current business climate.

Although there have been record-highs in the "frothy" stock market, entrepreneurs and small businesses around the country are seriously struggling. In the United States, as of September 13, 2020, total small business revenue decreased by 20.6 percent compared to January 2020.

In addition, the number of small businesses still open decreased by 23.6 percent compared to January 2020, and restaurant diners are down 40 percent from last year. It appears that those stimulus checks went into Tesla stock on your Robinhood account and not your favorite sushi restaurant or local retailer.

Regardless, these percentage drops have made it abundantly clear that now is the time for everyone to take a step back and re-evaluate their business strategies. Because I've been in the innovation space for more than 10 years, this seemed like the right time to pull out one of my favorite tools from the business model innovation toolbox — the 36 stratagems.