So I’ve been working on developing associate links over the past few days and I seem to have spoken with 40% of our competition… that approached me and were astonished when I offered to help them develop their business. For many months and with thanks to a respectfully knowledgeable person the word ‘compassion’ has stuck with me – so I thought I would test the ideology by taking a closer look at the benefits of working with competitors. Now, this is not a new concept, its been around for centuries however it seems to me that the in the 21st century it comprises of bullies, victims, heroes and villains.
‘The Bullies’ the competitor with the biggest and broadest holds of the market. ‘The Victims’ timid competitors with great ambition and ideas but lack the audacity to impose and impress themselves onto a market. The ‘Heroes’ the champion competition that welcomes collaboration but it comes at a price. The ‘Villians’ the competitors with the merger and acquisition mentality ‘lets take over the market’. How is one to distinguish the best completion to work with? Working with the ‘Bullies’ will certainly get your business recognised, however there is the danger of formality and red tape so one must question how open this group is to real and sustainable collaboration? Bullies are the ‘Decipticons’ of the market, they transform and change rapidly leaving behind credible businesses with worthwhile products and services. I was once told being a ‘victim’ opens you up to scrutiny. As an optimist I chose to believe that mutual benefits are conceivable from sitting around the table with this band of competitors. On reflection, would you be placing your business in midst of negative associated judgement? i.e. you’re collaborating with a cautious competitor who may have missed the boat and barely keeping their head up in the water (market). Is that a good look? and how does one wear it? The heroes are the proud egoists - they’ll welcome talks around a fancy table and boardroom, listen to your propositions and push an invoice under your nose for their services. Now, this type of competition is usually apparent in the financial and legal sectors, however recently I have come to realise they are apparent in all sectors and astonishingly more evident in the education sector (well in the UK anyway). We do it well, we welcome innovation, but we’ll tell you how to do it and how much our opinions count in the market. Last to commence battle with you are the villains, if your market was an amphitheatre they’d aim to show you who the ‘boss’ is – they’re the market entertainers, regardless of expertise or experience this band of competitors would rather own you than work with you. So there we have it, my brief and enigmatic view of the four types of competition – lets decipher this and get to the point. When looking for greater market recognition approach a bully, when looking for expertise within a market side with a victim, when seeking investment meet a hero and when needing a way out shake hands with the villains. OR, take all four into the amphitheatre watch them fight fiercely like gladiators – because one day, just one day, there will be a day when everyone wants you (your business). Bottom line, be compassionate with your competitors and offer to help where you can, ask for recognition and make progress within the market together. Consider the leverage in working with your competition - that old saying ‘If you can’t beat them join them’....…perhaps partially, mindfully and for mutual benefit? Some of your competitors will have the best labs, equipment, expertise and resources - there's no harm in approaching them and working with them to further your offering to the market. Don’t assume the worst… A lesson from The Aristrocats: In Paris in 1910, a mother cat named Duchess and her three kittens, Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse, live in the mansion of retired opera diva Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, along with her English butler, Edgar. She early on settles her will with her lawyer Georges Hautecourt, an aged, eccentric old friend of hers, stating that she wishes her fortune to be left to her cats, who will retain it until their deaths, upon which her fortune will revert to Edgar. Edgar hears this from his own room through a speaking tube and is unwilling to wait for the cats to die naturally before he inherits Madame Adelaide's fortune, and plots to eliminate the cats…..….Edgar sees Duchess and Kittens coming and captures them, places them in a sack and briefly hides them in an oven….…Madame Adelaide's will is rewritten to exclude Edgar and include O'Malley (after ironically claiming that the will would have included Edgar after all). (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aristocats) What are your thoughts...?
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