"The key is to make mistakes faster than the competition, so you have more changes to learn and win."
- John W. Holt Jr.
Competition is healthy… or so they say. It is believed that competition INSPIRES creativity, discover and leadership. I contest that competition only inspires one thing... MOTIVATION.
When you get you're a$$ kicked in a soccer game as a kid, what happens? After you finish crying and pouting, you go outside and start PRACTICING! When you lose a big deal to your arch nemesis, you bitch and moan in the car, then go back and examine your process and pricing. In both scenarios, when you lose to your competition, you FIND the motivation to GET BETTER!
We often hear the stories of the old business owner, fat and happy, dominating his marketplace (can you say BlackBerry?) until the new kid shows up and kicks their face in (Apple iPhone). COMPLACENCY, or a total LACK of motivation, is what occurs when there is limited competition. When you have nothing to MOTIVATE you to do better… well, why would you? (See: US welfare system)
2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
The INTERESTING thing about the idea of COMPETITION vs. MOTIVATION is that you do not need a "true" competitor to find the motivation for bettering yourself. You can "compete" against yourself by creating timelines and measurements for your personal achievement. By setting personal achievement goals, you are able to create the "motivation" found via "competition."
If you need a "real' competitor to help you get laser focused then look to join a peer group. Find people that share your values, even if in unrelated businesses, and pit your ability to achieve goals against one another. Up the ante and throw a $100 per person in a pot to be awarded to the person that achieves their goals FIRST! Would you pay $100 to be a SUPERSTAR this month?
Most competition is "smoke and mirrors." Most "competitors" are not REAL competition (some do not even know you exist). Find a way to MOTIVATE yourself and if you cannot, do not create a competitor, find one that you can battle against in a POSITIVE way (peer group). At the end of the day, you are competing against yourself… and when you finally start WINNING, all the people you seek, as clients, will start flocking to you!
Cheers,
Zach
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