Successful entrepreneurs thrive under competitive pressures. Instead of viewing competition as an obstacle, entrepreneurs should look towards overcoming the obstacle and take it as an opportunity for improving their business.
Competition is important in business to foster innovation and growth. Innovation is crucial to the progress of any business, as it brings about revolutionary new ideas.
Without innovation, businesses would be complacent and commit to maintaining the status quo.
One business could monopolise an industry entirely, leading to inferior products and inflated prices. In constrast, competition between businesses, especially a healthy one, encourages quality products, fair pricing and good customer service.
A healthy rivalry with other businesses also challenges entrepreneurs to work outside of their comfort zones and be more resourceful because their peers inspire them to improve.
Entrepreneurs should be familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of both their own business and their competitors. Learning from the competition is one of the most effective ways to grow.
As such, study the competition, especially the heavy-hitters of the industry to learn what could be improved.
Educate yourself by studying how they design their websites, how they operate their business, and how they treat their customers.
Find out aspects of what makes their business work so well and adapt them to your business’s practices for better growth.
In the same vein of learning success from competitors, they can also teach about failure. Knowing information early may prevent common or expensive mistakes, and could help in generating a plan for the future.
The unique problems faced by entrepreneurs in a certain industry can be understood by a competitor as they likely face the same predicaments as well. Use this opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
Consider forming unexpected partnerships with the competition for events or projects. Although many businesses would never dream of creating alliances with their competitors, this could actually generate exposure.
Exposure creates marketing, and as it turns out, word-of-mouth popularity is the most valuable form of marketing, according to Forbes. Partnering with the competition returns more exposure and interest than not.
In addition to generating exposure, partnering with other businesses is an opportune way to grow. Assess the differences between the competitors and your business. The knowledge and resources they have may be different and better than yours.
Actively learn how they manage and grow their operation, and apply it to your business while making sure to adjust it to your unique customer base. Exchanging technology and tools during collaboration will allow the business to grow faster as it expands the overall market.
You don’t have to learn to love your competition, and you most likely won’t. However, business competition is a vital part of the industry and learning to adapt it to your business will help you get ahead.
