by Angela Taffs | May 18, 2018 | Business Success, Running a Business
Sometimes, when you realise your industry is becoming saturated with competitors, stop trying to fight against them and think about how you can turn this into an opportunity.
I always remember meeting the founders of The Soap Kitchen many years ago when the husband and wife team were starting up from their dining table. Over the years, their business grew as did their competitors.
Instead of fighting against them and getting consumed with worry, they looked at the opportunity this presented. They decided to adapt their business model. Rather than continuing to just make soap, they started running workshops teaching their competitors how to make soap. But taking it further, they also started supplying them with raw materials.
The business exploded and four years ago they moved from their beautiful, but humble dining table to a shop and separate large warehouse with more than 20 staff. It is now the leading DIY soap-making supplier in the UK and Europe.
Today I met a lady who offers a service and has been met with a similar problem. She is in the holistic health and wellness industry and it seems like every other person and their dog is now entering this. Her competitors are growing daily.
She recognised she was having to work harder but not seeing any increase in profits so came to see me. Rather than getting flustered, she went through everything with me and we soon realised a golden opportunity right under her nose where she could help others entering her profession. She could teach courses on how to get to the level that she had reached.
Create opportunities out of problems
Rather than looking at helping her competition adversely affect her, she saw the opportunity to create more income. This would also raise her profile in the industry giving her business visibility. She would now be integrating with competitors rather than trying to avoid them.
If you’re struggling with competitors, consider what hidden opportunities are out there for you. Don’t let your initial panic make you blind to these. If you’ve been in business for a while, and other new faces are appearing, take advantage of this. See how you can help them whilst creating a new income stream for yourself.
You might surprise yourself and find you enjoy it whilst significantly increasing your profits.
by Angela Taffs | Nov 16, 2016 | Business Success, Personal and Lifestyle
There is a highly contagious virus going around and it is highly likely that you have it!
It is called comparisonitis and it is deadly!!
Let’s take a health check.
Let’s first and foremost take a health check and see if you are suffering from it.
- Do you find yourself comparing yourself to a competitor which then leaves your frozen in fear and despair?
- Do you see them doing so well and instantly wonder if you should simply give up as you can never be that good?
- Have you created a new promotion and then seen someone else doing almost the identical thing? Does this lead you to hide in a corner in tears as you will now have to shelve your idea because people will think you are a copy cat?
- At the end of the day, do you wonder why anyone wants to buy from you with so many others doing what you do out there?
Let’s take a look at your personal life
Before we start talking about business though, I want to talk about your personal life. I take it you have a few friends who you hang out with at times. I want you to think about why they hang out with you. Why don’t they choose someone else they know who is better looking, funnier, more intelligent, wealthier etc? Now, unless it is because you have some hold over them such as hypnosis or blackmail, it will be because they connect with you personally, they are attracted to your personality.
And the same theory applies in business.
Some of your target markets will be attracted to you and some will be attracted to your competitors. But there are enough people in the world to go around for all of us!
When you are looking at that super successful online coach with 20,000 followers, remember that not everyone will want to work with them or sign up to their new programme. Some people may feel too disconnected from that person and want someone nearer to the level they are at in the current moment. They may just be looking for you!
There may just be people who think that super competitor of yours is just too pretentious, perfect or staged and they want someone more real and down to earth.
This can come down to getting laser-focused on who your ideal client is, who they are, what they want and who they are looking to buy from.
I have spoken to several women just recently who have shelved their latest launch because they have seen a competitor doing the same thing. They are literally frozen in the headlights of the competition and it is killing their business.
Whoever your competitors are and at whatever level they are at, there will always be someone better than you in business, with more clients, and a better website etc. Do not let that freeze you in fear. Turn it into a positive and let them inspire you. If they can do it, so can you!
All may not be what it seems
But I now want to flag up a common occurrence – all may not be what it seems anyway.
When I took my business online, I was in awe of the number of successful coaches that popped up constantly in my news feed. How on earth could I compete with them? There were a few in particular that were posting daily about how many new clients they had, how wonderful their life was and I sat back wondering what I was doing wrong.
And then I opened up my mailbox. I kid you not, over the course of a few months, no less than three of these ‘super successful’ coaches reached out to me for advice on how to get clients. They were faking it until they made it! So unless you see the financial statements of your competitors, you really have no idea how successful or not they truly are.
Only yesterday I received an email from a particular marketing expert that I have sat in awe of for many a long time to be told she is closing her business. She simply can’t make ends meet! WTF!!! This is the woman whose website is all singing, all dancing. This is the woman with thousands of followers. What on earth had happened?
She had been super successful when she kept her business small, but when she started to grow and try to compete with the big guys, her costs rocketed, she didn’t get enough sales to cover these and she became completely overwhelmed.
So it’s not always roses around the door. Your business might be smaller but you may be in a much better financial position than many others you sit in awe of.
Believe in yourself
At the end of the day, you need to believe in yourself and what you are doing. After all, if you don’t believe in yourself, then why should anyone else.
If you would like to watch the Facebook live broadcast I did on comparisonitis, you can watch it here.
Please feel free to leave a comment below
by Angela Taffs | Aug 4, 2015 | Customer service
I believe I have found a way for you to beat your competitors in a guaranteed way. This is just by delivering what you promise to do. Simples!!
I never cease to be amazed by the appalling service that so many companies still think is acceptable.
Just this past week I have encountered the following:
Laura Ashley promising delivery within 3 working days and yet 10 days later still no order received. Their customer service is non-existent with emails being ignored and a wholly incompetent customer service representative on the other end of the phone when I eventually got through.
I have booked flights with British Airways and encountered numerous problems on their site when trying to enter Advanced Passenger Information and reserve seats. Again, emails ignored until I took to social media. I then get an email telling me to follow the links on the website. But they don’t work! This was followed by no less than 8 failed attempts to speak to them by phone as after following the automated service it either went to a constantly engaged tone or cut off altogether.
I went to enquire about a new car from Nissan only for the salesperson to say he would email what they had and the prices. Why? I was there in the showroom potentially ready to buy. Was it because I was a lone woman and he didn’t believe I was serious without a man by my side? I emailed Nissan to complain about his attitude, got an automated response saying someone would be in touch within 48 hours and never heard from them again. Appalling!
Finally, a dodgy estate agent who is lazy beyond belief waits until the last minute to negotiate with the vendor on items he promised to do on day one. He then uses the cop out line that the vendors have changed their mind. I have reason to believe he lied through his teeth to get the sale and was just too incompetent to do his job properly. Suffice to say, when I come to sell in the future, this agent will be last on my list.
All of these instances I wish I could say were rare but are unfortunately all too common. Tradesmen who don’t return calls, or who come and give an estimate never to be seen again. If they don’t want the work, just say so. Cleaners who come to the office full of promises of how good they are only to leave a half done job that has to be redone. Financial advisors who promise information to be sent only for them to have to be chased continuously.
So if you want to beat your competitors hands down, try focusing on customer service. At the very least do what you say you will. And if you can go the extra mile, I bet those customers will be so impressed they will come back to you time and time again.
I am now going to start noting good and bad customer service and writing about examples of these. If you have any of your own that you would like to share, please pop over and add them on the Facebook page.
