Your Value Exists Regardless of the Competition
Is comparison really “the thief of joy?” Maybe. On a personal level, perhaps, sure.
But when it comes to business, I think it’s less about joy and more about focus.
Yes, we should be aware of our competition, and have a clear understanding of them,
but only so far as we can further differentiate ourselves from them.
I want to invest my energy in what makes Formada special and in how we can better support our clients in our own unique way. If I’m too focused on them then I’m missing out on opportunities that support our goals.
This is something that often comes up in conversations with other business owners.
They want a clearer understanding of where they stand vs. their competitors. Who doesn’t? I know that Garrett and I do. But it’s how we use that information that really matters.
Don’t Chase The Competition. Differentiate Yourself.
When you find yourself in a position of wanting to replicate what the competition is doing, I recommend looking at the situation from a slightly different perspective.
For example, I recently had a conversation with a business owner about marketing efficiency.
They wanted to see where they stood vs. their competition from a marketing spend standpoint.
Essentially, the business owner posited that if the competition is successfully spending 10% of their revenue on marketing, and they (the business owner) are currently spending 12%, then they would like to pull their marketing budget down to 8%.
Simple enough, right? Maybe. But I want to bring things into clearer focus.
I love the goal setting. And I love efficiency, especially when it comes to marketing budgets and return on investment.
But in this particular instance, I don’t believe that benchmarking against the competition is a priority for the business.
Essentially, tying your marketing budget to that of your competition isn’t really a goal that’s going to help your business grow. It certainly isn’t going to help you learn more about your business.
Set Goals Centered On Your Success
So what I suggested instead was taking some consulting time in order to discuss the business and create goals that are focused on growing the business.
And although my team are far more adept in their respective areas of expertise than I am regarding their specific departments, I shared some quick examples of what those goals could look like — goals that can help us set benchmarks of where the business is at right now that we can measure over time and track real, sustainable growth.
Those examples included:
- Organic website growth — Maybe you have 1000 unique visitors currently and we want to push that to 2000
- Incoming lead growth — Maybe you’re getting 5 inbound inquiries each day and you want to push that to 10
- Specific incoming lead growth — Maybe we want to be really specific and drive more inquiries for certain high revenue generating activities vs. other products or services
- Community growth — Maybe you don’t have a social following now and you’d like to launch and grow your social channels
Once the team gets involved, these goals will become much more specific, but the overarching point is: No matter how many visitors or inquiries or followers your competition might have, your goals need to be based on the current state of your business, led by your brand and its values.
You cannot control what your competition does, but you absolutely can control how you conduct your business. It’s empowering, really.
If you’re interested in having a conversation with me about goal setting and growing your business, contact me today. I’d love to tell you more.