“What if she gets the business over me?”
“My business is already struggling – I can’t compete with another company.”
“Maybe I don’t have what it takes – she seems to be doing so much better than me.”
Have you ever heard yourself saying (or thinking) one of these statements?
When I first started out in business, I used to spend a ridiculous amount of time watching other entrepreneurs. I’d check out their offers, read their sales copy, follow them on Twitter and analyze their every move.
At the time, I was an equal opportunist – I observed everyone that I found remotely interesting or who I deemed to be successful online. But, over time, I started to get almost fixated on watching my competition. What were THEY offering? What did THEY have to say about something? What did THEIR website look like?
I wasn’t doing it out of malice – it was purely based in fear. Fear that I would never be good enough to compete with them. Fear that if I didn’t keep tabs on their every move I might miss something critical that would either adversely affect my business or cost me a great opportunity to do something similar with my business.
Of course, as we’ve talked about a few times on this blog, this lead to me creating a bit of a me-too brand that was more a reflection of my competition than of me. And big surprise here – I wasn’t very successful in that iteration of my business. No wonder of course – the brand I built wasn’t mine.
But I digress.
What was particularly troubling at the time was the belief I held that there was not enough business out there for all of us. There were a few other women playing in the same market as me in the same city and rather than see them as possible collaborators or allies, I worried that they’d take work away from me. That it was either me or them. That there wasn’t enough room for all of us.
This was nothing more than fear. Ugly, paralyzing fear.
I’m admitting this to you because I know many of you have been caught up in this too. It’s human nature to feel threatened when someone we perceive to be in competition with us starts stepping up their game, or becoming more successful (we’re ok with our competition as long as we’re doing better of course).
But let me lay it down for you. Bold, simply and and in the spirit of true honesty.
There is MORE than enough business for everyone. For you, your competition and their competition.
Spending ANY energy focused on worrying about your competition is just an exercise in scarcity thinking and it’ll seriously limit your ability to be successful in business.
Think about it objectively for a minute. Unless you live in an extremely small town, chances are good that you’ve got at least 100,000 people in your immediate geographic region. Can your competition possibly serve them all? Could you? Of course not.
And if you, like me, run your business online, you’ve got millions and millions of people to market to – and so does your competition. There is more than enough to go around. I promise.
But most importantly, remember that if you brand yourself well, you don’t really HAVE any competition.
What? No competition? But what about that woman doing what I’m doing?
Well, is she really? Sure, she may serve the same audience as you – but does she serve people exactly the way you do? Is her style exactly the same as yours? Does she approach her work exactly like you? Is her website a direct knock-off of yours?
Chances are good the answer is a resounding no.
So, then in reality, you don’t have direct competition. You have your own unique, distinct brand that is completely different from the woman down the street or across the internet.
When you build a bold, authentic brand from your strengths & natural gifts – you eliminate your competition.
Because the one thing your competition does not have is YOU.
Your right people will come to you because they resonate with YOUR message, YOUR style, YOUR approach, YOUR beliefs and YOUR offerings. And your not-so-right people will go to the woman down the street because they resonate with HER message.
This is a good thing.
It means that you both get to serve the people that bring out the very best in your skills, talents and unique genius. And it means that you both get to prosper.
What it also means is that you’ve now got people you can refer to, collaborate with and build peer relationships with.
Spending energy worrying about your competition means you’re playing small and limiting your own growth potential.
As the leader of your company, your job is to create a culture of abundance and prosperity. One in which everyone gets to thrive.
There is more than enough work to go around. Stop watching their every move. Start focusing on building YOUR brand.
Not only will you enjoy your business WAY more, but you’ll attract better clients (for you) and possibly score yourself some really great friends who truly GET what you do.
As for me? Well, I created an entirely new brand that was way more aligned with my unique strengths, talents and genius for helping women uncover and activate their bold brands. Are there people out there who offer what I do? Of course – there are many. Am I worried? Not anymore – because nobody builds brands and businesses like I do.
Nobody does what you do like you do.
This is your powerful opportunity. Let the fear go and embrace this awesome chance to cultivate your own brilliant brand.
