How to handle the competition

“If you follow yourself you don’t have any competition” – anonymous woman on the street.

This one sentence sparked a fabulous dinner conversation a couple weeks ago.  It is something I often used to fret about when I started my first handbag line, but in the end I really didn’t see them as competition, just other designers doing different things.  It wasn’t until a major designer copied my signature bag that I felt the wrath of competition swell – which was healthy – and a good reminder that I wasn’t bullet proof.

We all have moments of fear (fleeting as they may be) relating to our competition and wonder how they are doing it differently, the same, worse or possibly better than you are. And there are those of us who never think about it, or just plain ol’ don’t care what they are doing as it wouldn’t make a difference to you.

These days I take a good look at my competition to see what I can learn about myself.  I strive to be better, stronger, faster just like you, and don’t always have the answers. I reached out to my Entreprenette experts who offer some great tips like looking at competitors forums and solving those problems in your business, emphasizing what sets you apart, checking keywords, and back-links  to see if you should use them too, and most importantly to remember there is room for all of us!

Check out their great tips.  Love to know what you do too.  If you want to share your smarts with me, become an Entreprenette expert by clicking here.

Written by Sarah Shaw

There are 6 comments

Marnie says:

August 10, 2011 at 9:15 am

Like so many of your experts, I partner with my competitors aoap. When we bought our restaurant, the 1st thing I did was to go and borrow something from each other other restaurants in my neighborhood. This opened the door to great relationships and we still help each other out whenever we need it. Be a team player!

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Robin Feltner says:

August 10, 2011 at 9:39 am

Fantastic article! I love getting everyone’s individual take on their competition. So informative and interesting. And thanks, Sarah, for featuring me, #52.

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Nicole Bienfang says:

August 10, 2011 at 1:44 pm

Thanks to all 52 who submitted your two cents on this topic. I learned a lot from you. There were quite a few things mentioned that I need to keep in mind when I branch out into other businesses in the future. May you sharing your wealth of information bring wealth back to you!

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Glen Naughty says:

August 10, 2011 at 9:51 pm

Cool, thats alot of advice

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Martina Iring says:

August 11, 2011 at 5:45 pm

Lovin’ all this great advice here! Thanks for including me Sarah 🙂

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It's All About Competition or Is That Coopetition says:

July 27, 2014 at 3:39 pm

[…] from The Entreprenette Gazette from the article: How To Handle The Competition by Sarah […]

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