Market Share on Sale: Why Downturns Are the Real Growth Seasons
Some business conversations are polite exchanges. Others shift the way you see the world. This one started as a
Some business conversations are polite exchanges. Others shift the way you see the world.
This one started as a chat with someone who could have been a competitor and ended with me rethinking what it means to grow in tough times.
When Collaboration Looks Like Competition
The other day, I had a fascinating conversation with someone many in our space would automatically label as competition. On paper, we both work in similar markets. In reality, our skills are complementary, and our shared passion for creating lasting value is what connects us.
And passion, I’ve realised, isn’t just about what you enjoy. It’s about what you’re willing to struggle for. That shared struggle is often where the most interesting ideas are born.
We began talking about a particular market segment. From my vantage point, it’s been like rowing upstream: every bit of progress requires extra effort, and the current never seems to let up. Budgets have been slashed, purse strings pulled tight, and promising projects quietly deprioritised. The energy in that market has felt flat, almost as if everyone is holding their breath, waiting for some unseen signal to move again.
There have been days I’ve hovered over the decision: Do we keep the oars in the water, pushing against the current? Or do we drift, conserving our energy for calmer waters? A few more disappointing conversations, a few more “maybe next quarter” responses, and I might have called it.
He Saw It Completely Differently
He leaned back in his chair, smiled, and said, “This is where I build market share, when times are low. That way, when they expand, we’re the first name they think of. We’re already embedded. And when they’re strong again, we reap the benefits.”
It was such a sharp reframing. His strategy wasn’t about surviving the low, it was about using the low as a launching pad.
Like Buying a Great Stock at a Dip
In the stock market, seasoned investors look for companies with strong fundamentals but temporarily low valuations. They buy when others are selling, because they know the value is still there. It’s just not reflected in the current price.
That’s exactly what Amazon did during the 2008 financial crisis. While many companies were cutting costs and freezing plans, Amazon invested heavily in new warehouses, technology, and customer service. To outsiders, it looked risky. But when the economy recovered, they had the infrastructure to dominate. The market rewarded their foresight, and their growth curve accelerated.
This is what he was doing with his client relationships: treating the market lull as a sale, not a sign to leave.
That analogy hit me hard because it spoke to long-term thinking in an impatient world. Most of us operate quarter to quarter. We want results now. But the real wins often come from decisions that don’t pay off until later.
Why the Downturn Is Fertile Ground
Most businesses, understandably, pull back in a downturn. It feels safe. It preserves cash. But it also leaves space for others to step in, build trust, and deepen relationships while there’s less noise. In these moments, loyalty isn’t bought through flashy campaigns or aggressive pitches. It’s built through consistency, patience, and showing up when others don’t.
It’s a bit like agriculture: anyone can plant when the sun is shining and the soil is warm. But planting in winter? That takes vision. It means believing that the roots will grow unseen, ready to surge when spring returns.
It’s Not Blind Optimism, It’s Calculated Patience
To be clear, this approach only works if the fundamentals are right. In investing, you don’t buy every stock that’s dropped in price. You buy the ones you’ve studied, the ones with the capacity to bounce back stronger. In business, that means being selective about where you invest your time, energy, and resources.
This is where knowing your market deeply matters. You have to be able to separate temporary setbacks from terminal decline. If the core need is still there, if the customer base is still engaged at some level, the downturn might just be the best moment to cement your role.
Collaboration Over Competition
Because we weren’t fighting over the same slice of pie, we were talking about growing the whole pie. And to me, that’s the beauty of entrepreneurship. It’s not always about outmuscling someone for what already exists, it’s about imagining what could exist if you worked differently, or together.
In tight markets, the instinct is often to protect what you have, to cling to your slice. But when everyone is doing that, the pie stays small. The entrepreneurs who stand out are the ones willing to think bigger: to take risks on collaboration, to share ideas openly, and to see “competition” as a source of fresh perspective rather than a threat.
This mindset is rare because it demands trust in both your own value and the value of the market itself. It means believing that there’s enough opportunity to go around and that by expanding the pie, you’re not just securing your future, you’re creating more for everyone involved.
A Shift in My Perspective
Walking away from that conversation, I realised my view of this struggling market was too fixed on the frost in front of me, rather than the soil beneath it. I was judging the season by its chill; he was judging it by what could grow when it warmed.
I saw risk; he saw runway. I saw budget cuts; he saw discounted opportunity.
It brought me back to that earlier thought about planting in winter. In agriculture, winter is a paradox. It feels dormant, but it’s often when the groundwork is laid for the most resilient harvests. Farmers repair equipment, enrich the soil, and plan their planting with precision. The activity is invisible to anyone driving past the empty fields, but it’s the very reason those fields thrive later.
That’s what he was doing: using the quiet to do the work no one else sees, so when the season turns, his roots are already deep. It’s knowing which season you’re in, and choosing to prepare rather than retreat.
Three Questions to Find Your Own “Buy the Dip” Opportunity
- Which clients or markets have strong fundamentals but are temporarily constrained?
- Where could consistent presence now make you the obvious choice later?
- What groundwork could you lay today that would be impossible to catch up on once growth returns
