Competition can be a good thing.
Rather than warning us to steer clear of a new market, sector, approach or niche, competition often validates that the things we’ve set our sites on are worth pursuing (if only for the fact that someone else recognized the very same opportunity). Competition also keeps us on our toes — driving us to raise our standards in an effort to win and retain customers. For these reasons, and I’m sure at least a few others, having competition is good. Knowing your competition is good. So is being aware of what your competition is doing.
Obsessing over your competition, on the other hand, is not good at all. And it can put your company
on a slippery slope — taking you from follow the leader, to follow the followers. And fast.
So here are three reasons why (mostly) ignoring the competition might be one of the smartest business decisions you’ll ever make.
Obsessing About Your Competition Dilutes Your Own Vision
Particularly in the early days of a new venture but also over the long haul, it’s tempting to dive deep under the hood of some set of perceived competitors — what they offer, how they talk about their businesses, who they service, how they support clients… Seems sound enough, but there’s a fine line between inspiration and imitation (shifting your vision to ape the ways the rest of the players in your sector go to market). And behind imitation hides a whole world of missed opportunities (not making a specific play you feel strongly about simply because you worry another company has already met your customers’ needs; moving into new areas you aren’t especially passionate about simply because everyone else is already there). Spend too much time trying to out-think the competition and not enough time thinking for yourself, and you could find yourself running a company that doesn’t much look like your company at all.
Still need inspiration to fire up your vision? Why not think about what it might look like if a new or unexpected disruptor entered your market tomorrow? The next company to disrupt the travel industry won’t do it with planes and trains — they’ll do it by offering video conference technology so good that traveling to face-to-face meetings is unnecessary. The next big software innovation just might come from Ford; the next healthcare breakthrough from Nike. Just examples to make the point, but certainly plausible. The competition isn’t necessarily who you think it is — not anymore, and not ever again. So imagine how an outsider would reinvent your industry, then come up with a smart plan for reinventing it yourself. You’ll bring a fresh perspective to even the stalest of sectors, and craft a truly unique vision that your company can own.
Taking Cues from Your Competition Can Lead to Parity Products
It’s one thing to make sure your core offerings conform to your market’s expectations, and sometimes that means having a working knowledge of what the other guys offer. But it’s another thing altogether when you find yourself playing a constant game of catch-up based solely on the moves your competitors make — adding features because everyone else has, scaling back services that nobody else offers, etc. Besides, following your competitors’ lead here is no guarantee you’re building better product or service offerings for your audience.
Who, then, should you take cues from? Well, how about your customers? While there might be some truth in reckoning that customers don’t always know what they want (especially if you’re offering something they’ve never been offered before), they are certainly a better barometer than your competitors. Even when a customer can’t articulate a solution, they can certainly articulate pain point, an unmet need, or even a must-have that no other provider yet offers.
Keeping Your Eye on Your Competition Results in Me Too Marketing
Ever wonder why just about every company in your sector markets in just about the same way, regardless of the actual ROI? Consider this: While you’re making marketing choices based on your view into what all of your key competitors are already doing, you can rest assured that your competitors are making their marketing choices based on what their key competitors are doing. And of course, their key competitors include you…You can see where this is headed. Lots of look-alike companies vying for the same attention, targeting the same niches, saying the same things the same ways, advertising in the same periodicals, and exhibiting at the same trade shows. All competing on price because there’s nothing else to set you apart.
Instead, why not take a page out of a very different marketing playbook? Specifically, one used by companies very much unlike yours. If you’re a business-to-business marketer, why not appropriate something that seems to be working for a consumer brand? If you’re B2C, why not see what you can learn from your B2B counterparts (for example: content marketing has been a mainstay of B2B marketing for decades, long before it became a hot tactic among global consumer brands)? If you’re a startup, why not find a creative, low cost way to pull-off a breakthrough approach that worked well for a Fortune 100 company you respect? If you’re a multinational corporation, why not ditch the tried-and-true in favor of the nimble new tactics a growth company outside your sector is using to drive rapid expansion?
At the end of the day, even a “fast follower” is still a follower. And you didn’t get into business to be a follower, did you?
Rather than warning us to steer clear of a new market, sector, approach or niche, competition often validates that the things we’ve set our sites on are worth pursuing (if only for the fact that someone else recognized the very same opportunity). Competition also keeps us on our toes — driving us to raise our standards in an effort to win and retain customers. For these reasons, and I’m sure at least a few others, having competition is good. Knowing your competition is good. So is being aware of what your competition is doing.
Obsessing over your competition, on the other hand, is not good at all. And it can put your company
on a slippery slope — taking you from follow the leader, to follow the followers. And fast.
So here are three reasons why (mostly) ignoring the competition might be one of the smartest business decisions you’ll ever make.
Obsessing About Your Competition Dilutes Your Own Vision
Particularly in the early days of a new venture but also over the long haul, it’s tempting to dive deep under the hood of some set of perceived competitors — what they offer, how they talk about their businesses, who they service, how they support clients… Seems sound enough, but there’s a fine line between inspiration and imitation (shifting your vision to ape the ways the rest of the players in your sector go to market). And behind imitation hides a whole world of missed opportunities (not making a specific play you feel strongly about simply because you worry another company has already met your customers’ needs; moving into new areas you aren’t especially passionate about simply because everyone else is already there). Spend too much time trying to out-think the competition and not enough time thinking for yourself, and you could find yourself running a company that doesn’t much look like your company at all.
Still need inspiration to fire up your vision? Why not think about what it might look like if a new or unexpected disruptor entered your market tomorrow? The next company to disrupt the travel industry won’t do it with planes and trains — they’ll do it by offering video conference technology so good that traveling to face-to-face meetings is unnecessary. The next big software innovation just might come from Ford; the next healthcare breakthrough from Nike. Just examples to make the point, but certainly plausible. The competition isn’t necessarily who you think it is — not anymore, and not ever again. So imagine how an outsider would reinvent your industry, then come up with a smart plan for reinventing it yourself. You’ll bring a fresh perspective to even the stalest of sectors, and craft a truly unique vision that your company can own.
Taking Cues from Your Competition Can Lead to Parity Products
It’s one thing to make sure your core offerings conform to your market’s expectations, and sometimes that means having a working knowledge of what the other guys offer. But it’s another thing altogether when you find yourself playing a constant game of catch-up based solely on the moves your competitors make — adding features because everyone else has, scaling back services that nobody else offers, etc. Besides, following your competitors’ lead here is no guarantee you’re building better product or service offerings for your audience.
Who, then, should you take cues from? Well, how about your customers? While there might be some truth in reckoning that customers don’t always know what they want (especially if you’re offering something they’ve never been offered before), they are certainly a better barometer than your competitors. Even when a customer can’t articulate a solution, they can certainly articulate pain point, an unmet need, or even a must-have that no other provider yet offers.
Keeping Your Eye on Your Competition Results in Me Too Marketing
Ever wonder why just about every company in your sector markets in just about the same way, regardless of the actual ROI? Consider this: While you’re making marketing choices based on your view into what all of your key competitors are already doing, you can rest assured that your competitors are making their marketing choices based on what their key competitors are doing. And of course, their key competitors include you…You can see where this is headed. Lots of look-alike companies vying for the same attention, targeting the same niches, saying the same things the same ways, advertising in the same periodicals, and exhibiting at the same trade shows. All competing on price because there’s nothing else to set you apart.
Instead, why not take a page out of a very different marketing playbook? Specifically, one used by companies very much unlike yours. If you’re a business-to-business marketer, why not appropriate something that seems to be working for a consumer brand? If you’re B2C, why not see what you can learn from your B2B counterparts (for example: content marketing has been a mainstay of B2B marketing for decades, long before it became a hot tactic among global consumer brands)? If you’re a startup, why not find a creative, low cost way to pull-off a breakthrough approach that worked well for a Fortune 100 company you respect? If you’re a multinational corporation, why not ditch the tried-and-true in favor of the nimble new tactics a growth company outside your sector is using to drive rapid expansion?
At the end of the day, even a “fast follower” is still a follower. And you didn’t get into business to be a follower, did you?
