What are some art of war/machiavelli strategies to guard yourself against in business?

Say I own a business that is in a really competitive market.

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One of the best lessons I learned from reading The Prince was never take people who are in your social circle yet beneath you and put them on your level. Like never make your wife/friend/family member your "business partner". You think you are doing them a favor but really you create the means for their contempt. People are naturally heirarchical and as soon as somebody perceives themselves as your "equal", they immediately scheme to be your superior. Furthermore, the mere fact of promoting someone to your level when it isn't really deserved (and it never is), causes that person to perceive you as weak thus deserving of contempt. This contempt ends friendships and relationships faster than anything else and since they're actually correct, you are weak, you will almost certainly come out on the losing end.
I highly recommend anybody who starting from nothing and presumes themselves to ever be successful in business read The Prince. Shit is priceless.

thanks user, I will read it
and shit, I actually planned to make someone of my close family my business partner in the near future
you might have saved my ass

Because how we live is so far distant to how we ought to live, he who neglects what is done for what should be done sooner affect his ruin than his preservation.

That's the best quote in the prince. Some say the prince is satire so take it as you will.

>and shit, I actually planned to make someone of my close family my business partner in the near future
>you might have saved my ass
God speed user, it is a very good read.

Interesting.

This goes for relationships in general, particularly with women. They can never be your equal.

Never ran a business and I don't know about guarding against, but I always wonder why businesses in competitive industries don't go blackhat and fuck with competitors?
Like if you're in the pizza business you could order a pizza from a competitor to random houses or businesses, just to reduce your competitor's profits.
I feel like you could always do it in a way where it doesn't come back to you but still costs them money.

Or if you're in the window repair/replacement business, you could pay someone to go around smashing windows so you get more business.

Maybe this does happen but it seems rare to hear about.

kek.... fuck... maybe the only reason it doesn't happen so often is that idea just isn't out there in the collective consciousness. Now that you put that out in the world via the internet, now it's more likely to spread. What have you done man. You could have just not said it. Now society will probably fall apart soon.

shit

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Drug dealers have been known call the cops on their competitors. This amoral behavior, especially when money is involved, happens more than you'd think.

You got to know when to be a lion and a fox brah. When to avoid snares and when to charge in and wreck shit. And you have to figured out how the be both loved and feared and never leave an enemy injured in such a state they can recover and return. If you cannot destroy them then avoid war till you can win.

I was going to mention that this is basically nigger tier shit that most self-respecting white men wouldn't stoop to (at least for now) but you basically said it for me in a much less racist way. I'm trying to do better.

The prince applies well in zero sum games like war and politics, but it rarely works in commerce.

Because business is not zero sum despite what all the Marxists say. Commerce generates wealth for both parties.

I guarantee all the top business men in every field didn't stab everyone in the back the first chance they got.

There is only one secret to success, and it is in business to engage in mutually beneficial business arrangements. Relationships are key. Jack Welch was a prick but he never outright fucked people over; he was direct and honest.

Sure the Prince applies well in Game of Thrones type settings, but despite what people say about better being feaered than loved, remember that nobody grieves a feared man's passing.

It's just as important in life to have a good eulogy as it is to have a good resume.

is it a meme?

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Pure hooey. Stalinist nightmare stuff. Pursuing reconciliation with defeated foes leads to much stronger long term benefit. Look at Japan and Germany's relationship with USA right now. By your logic, America should have nuked them all into exctinction and at the time would have been justified to do so.

But America is stronger having them as allies and the US German Japanese relationship is THE biggest reason China / Russia will never rule the roost.

Remember that Machiavelli was an advisor to a failed prince who practiced Machiavelli to his early grave.

Beware the poor man who offers you his shirt.

that was heartwarming.

Nothing you're saying conflicts with my post. Obviously networking and relationships are of paramount importance in business. If you can make a deal where both parties feel like they "won" then more power to you. The best model of business I've found is the iterated prisoner's dilemma. Basically, unlike the dilemma in it's simplest single iteration where the right answer is always to defect, the mathematically optimal solution for the iterated version is to cooperate right up until the other party doesn't then you defect.
That said, what I was saying and paraphrasing in my post was quite simply, don't elevate anyone to your precise level that hasn't earned the spot. Meaning don't do the hard work, create a business and then just invite your, e.g., brother along as full partner with keys to the kingdom. Same for girlfriends, friends, wives, etc. I'm being very specific here as this is a mistake many entrepreneurs seems to make. They create something of value and invite someone who hasn't done the work along for the ride. This breeds contempt rather than gratitude. That's all I'm saying.

>but I always wonder why businesses in competitive industries don't go blackhat and fuck with competitors?
they literally do though...

That's true but it also depends on the person's personality. People who are psychopaths or generally selfish, bitter, and insecure will not grateful no matter what you do for them or how you well treat them. They will feel even more entitled and see themselves as even more of a victim.

You know that Machiavelli wrote it as satire, right?

>Beware the poor man who offers you his shirt.

People who offer help when not asked are always out to get something from you.

Red pill me on the prince

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You can learn more from great satire than anything else. Huckleberry Finn being a prime example