Competition is Good for Business

January 16, 2008.

"What kills a company is not competition, but arrogance.  We control our fate." 

                                                       ~ Eric Schmidt, founder and CEO of Google

My husband read this article the other day, it is originally from a New Yorker article  about Google.  I think this is the bestest (to quote my 5 year old) quote of all times!  It says it all, and I wish I had it to use in many a debate I had with a certain woman entrepreneur.  I have said it before, I will say it again, "Bring it On!".  Competitive products are good for the consumer, and they keep your business on it's toes.   

All this recent talk about; copyrights, talent, clip-art, owned designs, The Etsy Store, Ebay and attorneys has made me start to think about what can ruin your company.  I originally thought I was going to rant about how bad Etsy was for our industry and how we aren't gonna take it anymore...blah blah blah.  But I changed my mind (I can do that you know) and honestly I have NO idea if Etsy is good or bad - so how can I blog about it?

Competition is NOT Copying

What is the difference between copying and competition you ask?   Well if someone were to say  come out with a birth tile - a birth certificate if you will.  Imagine the ceramic tile was hung from a ribbon, with all of the child's birth information on it, and with some art work dabbled around the edges - even the 3 specific places I put art on my tiles.  Let's say they used even used a theme I used, but a different "style" and colored letters.  Would I have a case to get all mad, uppity and summon the attorney god's on this company?  Would I make her stop making birth tiles because I made them first?*  Could I send her a nasty letter saying this?

The answer is I could not do a damn thing about it. 

Again, competition just brings out the best in a company and makes you stay on your toes.  Complacency is a small business owners worst nightmare - oh and that arrogance thing too.  Now, I might be a tad bit bummed about these new "birth tiles" and if the price point was close to mine, well I might not be thrilled, and if the art was really good...ya, I might cry and whine.  But as I mentioned earlier - this just makes me take a good hard look at my product, my product line, my prices, my turn around times -what can I do to make my product stand out?  How can I make my product look better?

And um really if this product was JUST copying the exact same themes as mine - this would sort of suck, I would think of the Cheeze It line, "Get your own box!"  Get your own themes......but still, such is life.  I would just think that in my head.  There are only so many themes in the children's industry, and there are only so many ideas out there.

Arrogance

I have seen this happen in many an industry, and I have seen it happen in ours.  I have known a designer and she thought, even bragged she knew "it all".  She did not watch the competition, she did not have to, she need not stay on top of trends - she  just kept working merrily away.  Well, along came one competitor, than two and before you knew it her space was crowded.  Still, she kept her nose down and worked - no need to worry.  Then one day, this person looked up and started to wonder where the party went?  Where did all the customers go?  Year after year, show after show I have had to hear how bad things are and she does not know why.  I know they are bad - and this designer LET them get bad.  Don't pull the covers over your head - no really, it IS tempting.  Maybe you can sulk for a day or two, but do NOT roll over and play possum, do not play dead and do not do nothin'.

Kill the Competition with Kindness**

If that little scenario happened to me, I could add new themes, I could have ALL themes on the market that the consumer wanted.  I could shorten my turn around times, I could improve on my existing product - give more to the customer.  I could make everything about the purchase more attractive.  I could start bragging and put a tag line on everything, "Jamie's Painting & Design, making personal keepsakes for five years!"

I would let my experience and history with the customers speak for me.  I would keep a close eye on the competition, but not obsess on it.  The truth is that you can not be everything to everybody, and I am sure there are some consumers out there that liked my birth tiles - but did not love them.  These were not my best customers,they were not loyal and they bought out of convenience, or lack of choice, but not out of passion for the product.  Or some that never bought it because it was not there style, so they never were my customer base. 

Would there be a blip in my birth certificate sales?  Would  my sales decline across the board, through all channels?  Maybe a glitch, maybe a small decline, maybe not - I would have to wait and see and not stay complacent, not get comfortable and NOT, I say I would not sit back and do nothing.  Only time would tell, I would have to win on service, and I would make sure I won.

I Dare You, I Double Dare You

Now I give you another scenario where the competition has made the EXACT birth tile, with the  exact looking art, with a stylized hand writing, my colors - my color ribbons are hanging the tiles, they are the same size and the same price (it really is not so much the price thing or size).  Let's assume the is the art is the problem - let's say the art is really, really close to mine - an almost exact duplication (by the way major kudos if someone can do that....no I digress, and no, no, NO KUDOS!  BAD, bad artist person!).  This my friends, would piss me off.  This would make me mad. This would not be cool - this would be um, pulling out the old copyrights and sending a letter to a company, AND contacting attorneys.  And, uh well you know me and I tend to be a bit chatty - you KNOW I would talk about it.  You know I could not keep my poor little mouth shut.

React and React Quick

Once upon a time and a long, long time ago (I think the early 80's) there was an artist who made jewelry.  He had a distinct style and it was very popular.  Another jewelry maker came out with a similar design, a very similar design.  He jumped on them, and I mean jumped.  He got his attorneys involved and he stopped the other person right away.  The next one that showed up - same thing.  He reacted, he got the company's to stop, he did it right away.  He did not take it lying down - and artisans know not to "you know what" with this man.

The moral of this tale - do something right away. Do not let copy-cat's take your thunder and do not let your competition win.  You need to do something to keep your customers.  As a small business owner I have learned this.  I know what is going on, I know who is doing what, and I know what my competition is doing.  I am not being arrogant, I am not bragging - I am just honest, and I have always said, "Information is good, even if it bad"

*I am not the first artist to make ceramic birth tiles, when I first started I was one of only a handful, but not the first.  And for the record, my products looked  (or look) NOTHING like the other products that were (or are) on the market.

**These are a few of my favorite things....no, I mean my NEW designs for 2008.  Thought you could get a sneak peak at what I have been working on this past week.  And note to self I must get the Christmas Carols off my i-pod.

Comments

[Missy]

Very well said! I enjoyed reading it very much! You might like a post I read a few months back - I really liked her perspective on competition - http://formattingtest.blogspot.com/2007/05/we-only-need-piece-of-pie-not-whole.html

Happy New Year!
Missy

P.S. - I am hosting a Valentine's Swap on my blog if you are interested - http://www.fabricofmylife.blogspot.com

[Randi-Sue Deckard]

Well said! As an artist & independent business women, I agree that competition brings out the "survival" of the fittest in the business world.

Many folks think that bringing prices down will help them compete....NOT! People want a bargain not necessarily "cheap" product; if you price your goods well below the market value, people will ask themselves...what's wrong with this...plus if you ever want to do wholesale , your going to lose money.

I love your attitude...bring it on!

Beautiful tiles...keep up the fantastic work and kudos for "differentiating" yourself in the market place!

[Elizabeth]

I love your style of writing! And you make some very valid points. The worst kind of copying? Is when the larger big box stores (with very deep pockets)find a product, trend or "look" and mass produce it and have it on the shelf within months. As soon as that happens, I stopped carrying similiar (but much better quality) items in my store. An example? Diffusers with the reeds in the glass jars. When they first came about, they were elegant, pure, beautiful bottles, and yes, pricey. But worth it. They lasted a long time, most were hand made and original. It was a matter of two years that you find this producted watered down (figuratively and literally) in the big box stores or chains. The bottles are plastic, the reeds short, and labels cheap and the "oil" evaporates in a very short amount of time. Yes, you can still find high quality diffusers, but they aren't in demand, or find them in a lot of boutiques because shop owners are finding that their customers are buying them at half the price of what shop owners can get at cost! When dealing with big box stores, with deep pockets, it does become difficult to remain competitve - but it also forces the small business owner to think "outside the box" and stay creative. I came up with my own line of diffusers - what is different about mine? My oil lasts well into 5 or 6 months, unlike the mass produced, cheaper products that don't even last half that amount of time.

Thank for sharing!
Elizabeth