Not enough time to work on your own business? Why not reallocate the time you spend focusing on your competitors and focus on your own business!
Henry Ford said it best:
The competitor to be feared is the one who never bothers about you at all but goes on making his own business better all the time.
Reason 1: The data you collect will be misleading anyway!
If you analyze their pricing; how do you know they aren’t losing their shirt at that price? If you are looking at their marketing activity; how can you know it is working for them?
Let’s turn this around… If your competitors are looking at your marketing spending assuming you know what works and what doesn’t – How good would their data be about your business?
Reason 2: Competition comes from too many places.
How do you define who your competitors are? If you think they are just the direct competitors that sell similar products and services; there are many more than that. For example, a restaurant doesn’t just compete with other restaurants, it competes with the makers of backyard barbecues.
Reason 3: Your objective is to be different than your competitors.
The profitable business models have a “unique” value proposition – one that differentiates yourself from your competitors. Accomplishing this is a focus on the relationship between your business and its desired customer segments. If you focus your energy on your business providing unique and valuable products and services to your best customers, this data will come from your customers – not your competitors.
If you still feel the need to focus on your business’s competitors, you should consider focusing on the most expensively priced competitor in your market. Try to be like them. See if you can determine how they got to that position in the market.
My guess is that it wasn’t because they focused their time and effort on what you were doing!
If you think I am being too hard on you please let me know. The purpose of this article is to challenge your thinking. I welcome your opposing thoughts and comments.
