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Make Peace with your Competitors

By Jacqueline Drew
START Marketing Inc.
www.startmarketing.com

Most companies are a little suspicious, if not downright hateful, of their competitors.  Competitors are feared, loathed, spied on, preyed on, and generally the subject of a great deal of mistrust.  But have you ever thought that this might be the wrong approach?  Maybe there are reasons to live in peace with your competitors…and maybe there are darn good reasons.  Here are a few I have for you.

• Did you realize that your competitors are training your future employees?  If you hire anyone with experience in your industry, chances are one of your competitors has invested money in training them. If you bash your competitors or outrightly try to hurt them, then you may eliminate the chance of getting some of these valuable future employees….and if you kill your competitors, then count on your own training costs increasing substantially.
• Your competitors are also training your future clients.  These people are learning what to buy, and what to expect, from your competitors. Likewise, you are training the competition's future clients.  If you each present dishonest pictures of your competitors' products or services, the customer will feel mistrust of the entire industry, and may look further afield for suppliers…simply bringing more competitors into the picture…and these could be tougher ones than whom you're used to competing with.
• When healthy, your competitors, especially local ones, are building your markets for you…creating needs for products that you will be able to sell into. But if those competitors die or move away, your markets may die with them.  It is easier to sell into an established market than to build one from scratch.
• Because of your competitors, you learn how to define your own company.  It is infinitely easier to build your own dream when you can see what others have already done…and often there is no better inspiration for possibilities than by looking at your competition.  So believe it or not, you can thank your competitors for helping you to develop your own dreams.
• Finally, whether or not you realize it, you and your competitors are really existing to satisfy the pretty close to the same mission. One day you may in fact sell your business to a competitor, or merge.  In fact, if you have no competitors, especially no friendly competitors, your business may be worth much less as an asset than if you do have good competitors vying to buy it from you.

The upshot is, there's really no reason to see your competitors as enemies. We're all in this together – and in the long run, if we work together peacefully and honestly, it's really good for everyone – employees, clients, and the business owners.  Remember, every business, even your own,  is a competitor.  We are all just trying to make a living, all trying to survive, all trying to build a dream.  So live and let live.