Competition
In the beginning, competition can seem very scary.
It can, potentially, take you out of business.
As you continue on your journey as an entrepreneur — searching for your business idea or business model, establishing the business and growing it — you might want to think about doing the same along with your competition.
Search for a competitor. Find one and help them to start and grow.
The reason I say this is that many times customers grow with your cross-competitors, people who do things that relate to your business but are not necessarily the same. Your market will grow as people learn more about your product and services, which can potentially lead to you owning a bigger share of the market, buying out some of your competitors, or them buying you out. Many successful entrepreneurs have employed this strategy.
Think about where you buy vegetables and fruit. One place you might think of is your local farmer’s market. A long time ago, farmers knew that they would do really well if they support each other rather than competing with each other. So they formed Farmer’s Markets, where one farmer sells potatoes, another corn, a third selling apples and pears. Sometimes they do have the same produce, but one might have only green apples and another only red apples. People come and find exactly what they wanted from the farmer on one side of the aisle, and then decide to purchase things on the other side that they hadn’t thought about before.
Think about the fish markets. Fish store “A” specializes in seafood. Fish store “B” specializes in fresh water fish. With counters side-by-side, they will sell a lot more fish than if people had to walk a few blocks or drive a few miles to visit each.
Part of the success of this method is in understanding that you could never capture the entire market, and that the more competition there is, the bigger the market becomes.
That also puts a burden on you as an entrepreneur, to ensure that you are really articulating your message. Do you really understand what your customers want and need? Do you understand how to sell and promote your products and services?
BEFORE YOU GO:
We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.
Think about:
Who is your current competition?
What potential competitors might you have as you grow?
What can you do to differentiate yourself from the rest?
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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.
