Collaborate with your Competitors
I have always believed that:
- Competition is an enrichment for your business
- Competition is a way for you to stay focused and create collaborative opportunities
- There are more opportunities than any one person or organization can handle alone
With that mindset, I’ve been blessed to occasionally compete with others, and many more times to collaborate with them.
I bring this to your attention because you might want to learn more about those with whom you compete. Some entrepreneurs I’ve worked with shy away from that, but many others — when they embrace the concept — find there are more opportunities when we work together, bigger opportunities when we work together. Collaboration means we all share bigger pieces of a much bigger pie.
Think about segmenting your business into different areas — perhaps focus areas. Think about what you can do to create or find people who are in those spaces, and initiate contact.
It’s not possible, or course, to contact all of them! A long time ago I did a search on the number of consulting businesses in my area. There were over 3,000! It was clearly not possible to connect with all of them.
But as I networked, I found those that were aligned with the way I think, the way I approach and solve problems, and the way I present solutions. Building those relationships meant building the possibility of future collaborations.
Getting to know your competitors allows you to expand your network as well as enhance your everyday work.
BEFORE YOU GO
We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.
- What can you do to learn more about your competition?
- What can you do to learn how to collaborate with them?
- What other tools have you used to grow your business or market?
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Faris Alami is Founder and CEO of International Strategic Management, Inc. (ISM). He works internationally, presenting Exploring Entrepreneurship Workshops and other entrepreneurial ecosystem — related ventures.
