Several businesses see competition as the enemy. In some cases, this can lead to more motivation for employees. However, you shouldn’t forget all the ways that your competitors help your business grow and improve.
1. Inspiration
Competition is at the heart of capitalism. Even if you think there are better ways to set up an economy, you can’t deny that competition motivates people to work harder. It forces businesses to innovate their products. It inspires team spirit among employees at a company. A lot of teams bond through having a common goal. One of those goals could be surpassing the competition in sales, new customers, or market share. Your employees, especially if they work on commission, will be more motivated to keep customers when there’s more competition around them. When competition comes up with a new product, marketing technique, or way to run their business, it keeps your company on its toes and moving towards innovation. Competition inspires growth, progress, and creativity. When things get competitive, you might take a bigger risk in the hopes of a big reward. You can’t just stay the same and hope to keep your customers as times change and new names enter your industry.
2. Partnerships
Many companies don’t like their competition because they think they take away their customers. The truth is, the more companies there are in your industry, the bigger the market is. You should try to stay on good terms with your competition. A good relationship with competitors can result in several mutual benefits. Networking can lead to shared tips or sending helpful content or events to each other. Not every business around you is competition. That restaurant next to your movie theater is not competing with you. In fact, it’s probably increasing your traffic. Who doesn’t want to go see a movie after they fill their stomachs with delicious food? Complementary businesses are teaming up everywhere to host events or give their customers promotions for the other business. This teamwork benefits both businesses greatly through exposure and more customers.
3. Customers
Competition is good for consumers because it gives them better prices and more choices. Since competition makes customers happier, it’s good for your business. How would you feel if you could only have Almond Joys for the rest of your life because Snickers and Reese’s peanut butter cups were never invented? That would be a sad life for people who love peanuts or don’t like coconuts. It’s true that Almond Joys would get less business with this new competition. However, customers would be much happier. In a world of candy bar choices, now Almond Joy serves the customers that really love their candy. Competition creates brand loyalty that is otherwise nonexistent. Now, you have people who advocate for Almond Joys and those who are loyal to Reese’s peanut butter cups.
4. SWOT
Competition encourages companies to evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats by doing a SWOT analysis. Businesses should recognize their strengths and capitalize on them. Weaknesses should be recognized and addressed. There’s no way to improve without admitting what needs work. Whether it’s your products, services, customer service, online presence, or something else, every business can improve in some way. Research should be done to explore different opportunities that your company could take advantage of. Your competition or a slow economy could be included among your threats. Once you have determined all of these things, consider them when making important business decisions.
5. Learning
What better way to learn about how to effectively appeal to customers than by observing another successful business in your industry? If you are that successful business, then don’t feel threatened when other companies follow your lead. You should be flattered that your business is doing well enough to be copied. Even if you’re at the top, you can always learn something from your competition. Maybe there’s one minor change you can make to drastically improve your success. Whether your competition is successful or not, you can learn from their effective decisions and their mistakes.
6. Customer service
How do you keep your customers and steal customers from the competition? Better customer service is a good start. The more expensive the purchase a customer is making, the more important customer service is. Your employees have to work harder to keep customers interested in your business since there are plenty of other options. This requires you to choose your customer service staff carefully and make sure that they have the motivation to help customers in any way they can. Even if customers aren’t buying something, they should be treated with the same care and respect as the buying customers. This might encourage them to come back or spread good words about your business. When your customer service improves, your company’s image improves with it.
7. Niche
When your market is saturated by competitors that are all the same, your business could stand out above the crowd. Focus on what makes your company special. Your competitive advantage, superior customer service, or high quality products should be evident to customers. Competition splits up the market into groups of people that are loyal to different brands. If your company is truly unique and offers value to customers, you will get some loyal customers.
Competition can put your business to the test, but it leads to many beneficial things. When you are forced to be creative and offer great service, it benefits customers and keeps them coming back to your store. You can create some pretty brand loyal customers in the midst of competition when you treat them right.