Are you Afraid of Competition?

Worried that a similar business will steal your Customers?

Don’t be!

In my experience — unless you are a multi-million dollar company competing for the same client — it’s a big world and there are lots of Customers for everyone!

A good ten years or so ago, a very non-competing company decided to compete against me.

What actually happened was, my business and this other business offered very different products. We met through a mutual Customer. Our product is ‘Service Based’ and their product is ‘Product Based’ (think promotional goods).

Nonetheless this company — let’s call them “Not My Competition” (NMC) — thought our two businesses were very much the same.

Shortly after we met, I received a phone call and an offer to lunch from NMC. The purpose of the luncheon was to table an offer to purchase Idea Factor Inc.

As flattered as I was, the business was not for sale, because I LOVE IT! I expressed my feelings to NMC and they said, and I quote:

“OK, then please be advised that we are going to compete against you directly!”

To which I responded, and I quote:

“May the best WOMAN win!”

8.5 months later. NMC closed their doors.

In an Entrepreneurial Business with any type of longevity – you more than likely have created your own ‘secret sauce’.  And you know what?  That ‘secret sauce’ is really hard to reproduce. That’s why in most BUSINESS SALES, they ask the Owner or Key Executive to remain on site for at least two years because that’s how long it takes to transfer all of the skill sets needed for continued success.

If you play your cards close to your chest, it might be time to open up a bit. Working with similar businesses is a great way to expand your network, and remember, what goes around comes around, so you might as well try to help out here and there. 🙂

ABOUT IDEA FACTOR

Idea Factor provides a full suite of marketing services including B2B lead generation (gathering qualified sales leads), surveys, data mapping, event tele-boosting, trade show follow up, in-bound and out-bound omnichannel contact center services, data cleansing, list cleaning, customer retention and loyalty programs.

Our commitment to excellence in customer service has awarded us repeat business for more than 25 years, from both our global and community clients. To find out more go to http://www.idea-factor.com or look at our Services here.