How to Harness the Power of Competition to Your Advantage

Share This Post

At the heart of every successful business is a little healthy (and sometimes… not so healthy) competition. The secret, my friends, is knowing how to harness the power of competition to your advantage.

A little backstory: 2004 was the year that taught me these lessons. The very lessons I am about to reveal to you (minus the heartache). Long story short, a couple of employees in my previous organization wanted out, and one of them wrote a contract and got one of my partners, a trusting guy who had no knack for wanting to read details in a long document, to literally cede intellectual property over in ultra-fine print. This conniving move got the rest of us quite depressed. We had lost hundreds of thousands in booked deals that got canceled because these folks undercut the deals with lower prices, but essentially, the same product.

You see, this kind of competition has a funny way of making you think differently. We had to rethink the way we did business. This included learning how to hire the right people for the right reasons. So, you must build a winning team.

Here’s what we found:

A company's values should align with the applicant's personal values.

When you’re hiring, it is important to make sure that the applicant’s personal values align with the company’s values. This is because values are a guiding principle in our lives and influence our decisions. If an applicant’s values do not align with the company’s values, there is a possibility that they will not be happy working for the company and may even end up leaving (or worse, stab you in the back)

Hiring people with similar values will create a more cohesive work environment.

When a company hires people with similar values, it means creating a positive work environment. This is because people who share similar values tend to have an easier time understanding and agreeing with each other. Additionally, when everyone shares the same values, it makes it easier for the company to maintain its culture and keep everyone on the same page.

People with different values can still be good employees if they are willing to respect the company's values.

Even if an applicant does not share the same values as the company, they can still be a good employee if they are willing to respect the company’s values. This is, in the end, what matters most is whether or not the person is able to do their job and contribute to the company in a positive way. So long as an applicant is willing to respect the company’s values, there is a good chance that they will be able to do their job well and fit well with the rest of the team.

I can talk all day about the importance of working with the right people and building a solid team you can trust, but I think you get the point.

Now let’s talk about the real reason why you’re still reading. You want to know how to turn the power of competitors to your advantage.

In business, competition is inevitable. No matter what industry you’re in, there will always be other companies gunning for the same clients and customers that you are. But competition doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, if you learn how to exploit the competition, it can be advantageous to help your business thrive.

Here’s why:

Competition Keeps You on Your Toes and Drives Innovation

When you’re the only game in town, it’s easy to get complacent. But when there are other businesses gunning for the same clients and customers that you are, complacency is not an option. Competition keeps you on your toes and forces you to constantly innovate and improve your offerings to stay on the cutting edge.

This means having to know your customer That might mean coming up with new products or services that meet the needs of your customers better than anything else on the market. Or it could mean finding new and better ways to market and sell your existing offerings. Either way, competition drives innovation, which is essential for your business if you wants it to stay relevant over the long term.

But here’s the catch…

You Won’t Have To Worry About Competition If You Have a Truly Valued Product

A valued product is, by definition, something that provides value to those using it. It might mean you have niched down or catered to a unique target audience that prefers your fulfillment. That ultimately means that competition for your product is irrelevant. With no direct competitors, you can charge whatever price you want and still make a healthy profit. You can also focus your marketing efforts on promoting the unique aspects of your product, rather than having to compare yourself to other products in the market.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to worry about competition at all. Even if your product is truly valued, the world will still change eventually. Whenever changes happen, it will be an opportune time to adapt to the changing needs and stay in the hearts and minds of the customer.

Conclusion

Change is a constant. It might be your employees. It might be the flavor that customers prefer. It may even be the vision you have. Whatever the case, you need to learn to add, not take away, value. Unlike beggars and thieves, true entrepreneurs are constantly upgrading their value proposition, leading to better customer focus and satisfaction. When you align yourself to the customer and the market, you always win.

Make Growing Your Business Fun Again

Are you tired of feeling like you’re growing your business all by yourself? Even Elon Musk sought guidance from Larry Page.

If you’re like many entrepreneurs, you may be stuck and don’t know where to turn to. Or you may be working on the wrong things (and may not even know it!).

Let us help you take back ownership of your business and achieve the success you deserve with our free Launchpad community for entrepreneurs just like yourself.

✅ Get free resources for you to scale up your business
✅ Support from 100s of other entrepreneurs just like yourself
✅ Access to our team of world-class coaches

Sign up today and start making progress! Oh, and did we mention that this is completely free? You just need to be an existing business owner because this is a specially curated community.