HOW TO HANDLE THOSE PESKY BUSINESS IMITATORS
Hummingbirds are cute and amazing little creatures. They fly backwards and sideways and make chirping noises with their tail feathers. With heart rates of up to 1,280 beats per minute, they also need to eat. A lot.
Recently, I had the opportunity to watch hummingbirds in action at a feeder. What started as one lone little bird turned into a feeding frenzy of fourteen or so. It was incredible to watch them interact, fighting and sharing and vying for space and food.
In business, people are no different. An innovative business idea or proactive operating structure can be quickly copied, causing competition for customers and loss of market share that, over time, takes money away from your business. While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, here are some tips to protect your business as your good ideas and practices make you successful.
Provide a better product/service than anyone else. Many imitators short-cut quality or service in an effort to streamline and make money. Once a quarter, evaluate your offerings to ensure that you have the best thing of its kind out there. You'll be forced to face those imitators head on and can stay a few steps ahead of them.
Play to your strengths. Imitators often do some part of the business better than you. Focus on what you do best. You can use an imitator as a mirror to shore up any obvious weaknesses in your product, service or business model, but your strengths got you where you are.
Protect your turf (or, watch your back.) In a softer economy, it is even more important to shore up relationships. By constantly working your network and expanding it strategically, you can protect the business you've built from invasive imitators.
Use the attention an imitator gets to your advantage. Rather than focusing on how many mentions a competitor may be getting around town, spin that into a publicity coup for your business within your own circle of influence. Overall mentions of your business niche can further validate what you do and can generate interest from the marketplace overall.
Be flexible and seize those openings. Sometimes, we focus so much of our business energies on things we desperately want to work, while an incredible opportunity is somewhere in our peripheral vision. Always be on the lookout for a new opening, be it a business relationship, a new customer, or a different approach to what your business does.
Don't worry. Worrying is akin to feeding your business imitators. It is a waste of time, and there are far too many other productive things on this list that deserve focus. Use these strategies to make your business "imitation-proof," regardless of how many people are copying you.
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