Do you hate your competition?

I can honestly say I never think about the competition... not
sure if that is good or bad. I like to focus on how to sell
more and who I am selling to.

Yes I hate all of you people.
And while you're at it, burn in hell!!!!!!!!



Kidding.
Competition keeps you on your toes.
Keeps you honest and keeps you from going stale.
I hate competition but I always learn from them.

Yep, it sure it is!

One should never hate competitors. They are there to test if your product/services is better than the other. So instead of taking time planning a strategy against then, learn what their strategy is and make it better.

Just read this.... You know what they say about great minds...

I like this way of thinking. I agree with you. They challenge us to be better, they inspire us.

Really nice discussion about the competition useful thanks for sharing

Exactly. My firm focuses almost exclusively on eCommerce and conversion optimization - although other services are offered (such as PPC management, search engine optimization, design, etc.... all of the elements required for a good eCommerce presence) those aren't services that I actually promote, but rather "upsells" to our eCommerce services.

This lets us work with what many would consider to be local competitors as if they were partners. We outsource overflow design work to other local designers, and when they get an eCommerce client and want to do it right they work with us to develop the best possible strategy. There is plenty to go around and everyone wins.

In my business, the only time there is competition is when I am speaking to a group...and another speaker is selling a similar service. Now we are competing for the same dollars. But there isn't any animosity. If he's better, he gts more business..If I'm better, I do.

I get no joy out of taking business away from someone else, but that's the way it sometimes works.

A few decades ago, I hated my competitor...and he hated me. We spent sooo much energy trying to hurt each other (in sales).

After he retired, I saw him at a bank. We had a nice long talk. We both agreed it was a complete waste of time. The only person who won, in these battles, was our advertising reps.

But selling online service to small business owners? I never feel competition.

I actually want everyone to do well. Even my competitors. I have no idea what that means.

Competitors a re needed for several reasons.

1- You need somewhere to send the customers you don't want to tend to because they are not worth your time or money. This is what Tim Ferris calls an 80/20 customer.
2- If you are in a small niche, the existence of your competitor might be providing you more customers than you would get if they didn't exist. They provide the curiosity of people to look for your type of business in areas you might not have access or have covered yet with advertising and promos. ( i had a lot of competitors, they created a lot of customers for me difference between me and them was I ALWAYS came up as solution/option to their customers when they searched the internet on the niche I worked so they ended up calling or coming to my business and a lot of them stayed as customers)

3- Healthy competetion always motivates you to improve your business rather than "oh I have the biggest share of the market on this niche so I don't really have to work hard".

Don't worry about the ones who open up businesses on your own niche and under price their value/prices, usually they don't last more than 6 months. You need emotional control on this one though. You have to control yourself not to fall in their game.

I recommend the book The Art of Business by Mark McNeilly. The book is inspired on the book the Art of War by Sun Tzu

That's my 2 cents.

Very smart outlook. Yeah, I'm sure glad there are people out there selling vacuum cleaners, and I'm happy every time Consumer Report comes out with a section on vacuum cleaners. Everyone advertising vacuum cleaners helps create and raise overall demand for what I sell.

To be honest, in selling online services, my best helper is a local guy that actually does good work, but is a terrible salesperson. This is rampant in the world. We are inundated by terrible salespeople. They clear the path for guys like us. They set price expectations, establish demand for what we sell. My competiton is my best salesman.

I liken business to sports. I play a few different sports recreationally and I HATE losing. I sometimes think that I hate losing more than I like winning. So I will give it everything I have within the bounds of fair play to beat my opponent. However, at the end of the game, race, whatever, I will shake my opponent's hand and go out for a beer with him.

I feel the same about business. It's a challenge to myself to be better than the competition but I would never do anything unethical or dirty to win. I wish my competitors success but not at my expense. Do I want to beat my competition? Hell yes. Do I hate them? Not in the least.