Home
>
Small Business
>
Have You Thanked Your Competitors Today?

Have You Thanked Your Competitors Today?

Competition in the business world is often viewed as a negative thing, but it doesn't have to be. Competition can benefit you, your competitor, and especially your customer!

Let's look at some of the ways in which competitors can help you:

1) They prevent you from becoming lazy and overly comfortable in your business practices. It's easy to feel confident and relaxed in your business if you have a unique product that everyone wants. You don't feel any pressure to better yourself or your product. Everyone wants it, so it must be good as it is, right? Then one day another company comes along that begins offering similar products that are just a little bit better than yours. Uh-oh! Now you feel the pressure to perform. You don't want to lose your customers, so you need to continuously improve your product and your level of customer service. You now need to give your customers a stronger reason to keep coming back to you.

2) They encourage you to be more creative. So, now you're not the only one selling purple-polka-dotted purses anymore. What can you do? Develop more products! Stretch your imagination. Come up with some unique ideas that will either improve upon your existing products or design new ones. Come up with a line of new accessories, new color schemes, new sizes and styles. Don't try to copy what your competitors are doing, do something different and unique. Express your own creativity.

3) They help you to stretch out of your comfort zones. Perhaps you have a solid customer base and haven't had to invest much in promoting your company until now. But the attention is slowly beginning to drift away from you. Now you need to work a little harder at your level of visibility. You can advertise some sales or special promotions, get more involved with your local community, or donate a portion of sales to a worthy cause. Become as visible as you can in your community. Whether you have an online business or a brick and mortar one, you need to remain in your customers' minds. Put yourself and your company out there whenever you can. Be noticeable, be memorable.

4) They force you to charge reasonable prices. This sounds like a bad thing, but really it's not. Think of yourself as a consumer. Aren't you always looking for good value for your money? Of course you are. And so are your customers! While it's great to be earning a lot of money for your products, you also want to be fair to your customers if you want them to come back again. No one likes to feel like they're being over-charged or ripped off. You may need to explore different suppliers and materials in order to keep your prices in line, but your customers will thank you for it by returning again and again.

5) Joint ventures. These can be extremely profitable for both parties, if they're done right. Perhaps you and your competitor can offer discounts to the other's customers and do some cross-promotion for each other. Promote your competitor's purses and she will promote your scarves and shoes. Swap ads in each other's newsletters. Think of some ways in which both of you could work together to benefit yourselves, as well as your customers. Build each other up, rather than trying to tear each other down.

These concepts become a little more challenging when applied to distributors who work for the same company, but it's still possible to find ways to work together in growing your businesses. Perhaps you can co-host a home-business seminar and share in the product sales and recruits. Share the costs of advertising in a prominent publication and split the responses. Or each of you can target different markets and give referrals to each other. Working together will ultimately result in more sales for your company, which will benefit both of you also!

Competition can seem threatening at times, but the truth is, there is room for all of us! Just think about the popular burger places in the world today. I can think of at least 4 or 5 well-known ones, including the two most popular that are usually found within blocks of each other in any city -- or sometimes right next door to each other! These companies earn billions of dollars a year. Look at how these companies keep encouraging each other to do better. In their competition, they are creating menus that have items for only $1, new value meal combinations, new sandwiches and salads, later hours and more. It's benefitting the consumer by giving them more choices and better value for their money, and it's benefitting the burger places by earning them more money. It's a win-win situation all around.

So the next time you see one of your competitors, smile, wave and say, "THANKS!"

Wendy Betterini is a freelance writer and web designer who has been successfully working from home since 2003. In 2005 she launched http://www.creativeworkathome.com, a community and resource center for home-based professionals, and those who aspire to be. Visit today for tools, tips and information on how you can create your own home-based career, or further improve the one you already have!

recurring maid service Buffalo Grove ..

In The News:

The iconic Mary Kay pink Cadillac goes electric with the Cadillac Optiq, available only to the company's top 1% of sales force performers.

Cybercriminals abuse trusted Intel driver to gain kernel access and shut down Windows Defender, enabling undetected malware deployment since July 2025.

Using email aliases for online shopping and subscriptions can protect your privacy by preventing companies from linking your activity across websites.

New research shows AI overlap does not equal job replacement, with knowledge-based roles seeing most integration while physical jobs remain least affected.

Scammers target seniors who avoid social media by exploiting public records like obituaries and real estate filings to steal personal information and money

Recovery team in Italy use AI-enabled drones to detect missing hiker's red helmet, leading to successful recovery after months of ground searches

Google Salesforce system breach exposes business data while scammers use incident to target users with fake security calls and phishing attempts.

Google announces Pixel 10 lineup with Tensor G5 chip and Gemini Nano AI, introducing Magic Cue, Pro Res Zoom up to 100x and satellite emergency support features.

C San Diego study reveals 86% of school safety companies monitor students 24/7 on personal devices, raising privacy concerns.

Users can now add their favorite outlets' coverage to the Top Stories section of Google search results by utilizing the 'preferred sources' feature. With just a few clicks, you can add Fox News.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS shows an unexpected frontal glow that Harvard's Avi Loeb says cannot be explained by sunlight reflection or standard cometary outgassing.

Receiving order confirmations for purchases you never made could mean your email address is being exploited in fraud operations targeting multiple retailers.

First wireless brain implant works with Apple's official protocol, enabling hands-free control of iPhones, iPads and Vision Pro through thought alone.

Data brokers sell personal details that scammers use to target retirement funds through fake financial advisor calls and convincing phishing attempts

Ten innovative tech solutions from gait sensors to smart pill dispensers help adults 65+ track fall risks and prevent injuries before they happen.

Meta AI internal documents revealed chatbots were allowed to flirt with children and engage in romantic conversations until the company was exposed by Reuters.

ChatGPT will avoid giving direct mental health advice under new OpenAI rules following instances where the AI model provided harmful or misleading responses.

Your phone tracks you in more ways than that little GPS icon suggests. Here’s how to find and clear hidden location logs on iPhone and Android.

Authorities in France and the Netherlands have been notified. Meanwhile, impacted customers are being told to stay alert.

Apple just rolled out a redesigned Blood Oxygen feature to specific models, following a recent victory in a legal dispute.

Kidney dialysis provider DaVita experienced a ransomware breach by the Interlock gang affecting 916,000 people in the second-largest U.S. healthcare attack of 2025.

A Chinese-made Unitree R1 robot walked Manhattan streets and shopped for shoes as part of KraneShares' $28 million AI robotics fund promotion campaign.

The ShinyHunters cybercriminal group breached Google's Salesforce system through vishing attacks, stealing business contact details and customer data.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Have You Thanked Your Competitors Today?

Small Business