How to stop competing with other businesses

Most new founders buy into the idea that business is cutthroat. 

'It’s us, or them..."

This low-trust mindset is understandable given all of the bullshit we’re fed these days about competition and scarcity in small business. 

And then the story gets completed when you experience losing a key customer to a competitor down the street.

It was exactly this process that made me buy into the idea of competing with other businesses for a while.

But honestly? It never sat well with me.

I genuinely felt like an idiot every time I had the thought.

Then one day I remember a moment watching a competitor go out of their way to avoid walking past our front door. 

They literally crossed the street before passing our shopfront instead of strolling by the front windows...

I imagine it was to avoid eye contact and not come across as spying on us. It struck me as bizarre behaviour!

But I thought, maybe that’s how I appear to them too?

So I finally ditched the idea of "us OR them".

Instead, I adopted an "us AND them" approach.

I started going into their shop as a customer (which was pretty weird at first). 

But over time, both of our barriers began to break down and a friendship was formed.

Fast forward many years, and now I make a habit of visiting other competing businesses. I take a genuine interest in their products, team, processes, customers, culture, and most importantly their challenges.

See, when you shop at a competitor’s business with your industry insight, you pick up on things that even they don’t see, which is incredibly powerful.

But not to use against them necessarily.

In fact, I like to play a secret game…

I imagine I’m employed by my competitor as a mystery shopper or consultant.

My brief from the owner is to report back on what I see and what I think they could do to accelerate growth or improve the customer experience.

(I know what you’re thinking… I’m a bit of a weirdo).

Anyway, I go into their store and look for opportunities to add value to their operation. 

Why?

Because I learn a tonne of new things. But more importantly, you never know what the future holds. 

What if your next business idea is to supply the industry with a game-changing product?

Now your competitors are your future clients and therefore a pretty massive asset.

In that case, you’d have instant trust because you’ve been in their shoes before.

Your solution is likely to work and they know it.

But let’s assume you don’t want to play a bigger game like that.

You just want more sales in the same market.

Well here’s another way to look at competition.

Let’s assume that the industry you’re in is growing in demand over time. 

(If it's not, then you probably need to think about switching…)

In growing markets where products/services are in higher demand each year, the pie you’re taking a slice of naturally gets bigger.

Forget about stealing your piece from other businesses.

Instead, as a result of more people looking for that product over time, you’re helping to service a growing demand that your competition could never handle themselves.

At that point, you could even say you’re partners in some way.

Two businesses on the same journey to build awareness of your niche/market and working together to lift the industry standard as a whole.

Let’s take artisan bakeries for example. 

As craftspeople, you’re actually competing with mass-produced bread.

That’s the real enemy (not other craft bakeries). 

If we saw each other as partners, we’d promote the benefits of switching from mass-made yeasty garbage, to long ferment, wild yeast sourdough. 

We may even collaborate on events, work together to bring in big names, share ad spend and split costs. All in the interest of converting more people from good ol' fluffy white bread to nutrient-dense artisan sourdough.

But it takes founders adopting a growth mindset and taking the time to build trust so that long-term relationships are formed. 

That's a conversation for another day.

In fact, I'm going to stop there and leave you to ponder the idea of reframing competition in your own mind.

Because solving it is a personal process for each entrepreneur based on your mindset and how you view the world.

But just remember this:

We're more likely to build something wonderful in this world if we commit to building it together.

Have a great week.