So, you’re working on a new business, project or idea. You’re feeling psyched that you’ve come up with something beneficial, revolutionary or unique that you know people want or need! When BAM! You come across a brand or individual who are already doing it.
And they already have a website, a logo, an instagram with tons of followers!!! Your immediate thought is likely ‘NOOOOOOOO! There’s no place for me now, someone else is already doing it, or targeting my niche! FAIL!’ But before you throw in the towel, give up on everything you’ve been working on and dreaming about, just take ONE moment.
When u find competitors doing the same thing as you, it is easy and normal to feel defeated, irrelevant, not good enough to compete or to even want to give up, but discovering competitors doesn’t have to be an impenetrable wall. It can actually be a hurdle to push you harder to keep going! If an idea already exists, that doesn’t mean yours isn’t valid or there isn’t space for that business too. It means there is an opportunity for your idea to be one of three things…
1. Do Better
Think about it – because the concept is already out there, does not guarantee that it’s the best possible version of that concept. Look at the offering, the details of the product or service, the functionality of the website, the branding, the marketing strategy, and analyse. You have the opportunity to do it differently and to do it better.
Think about how YOUR version can improve user experience, project stronger branding, offer extra features, provide incomparable customer service, elevate a more luxury aesthetic. Whatever it is, your competitors rarely have every single element nailed to perfection. There is always gaps and troughs that your business can fill.
2. Create it faster
The knee-jerk reaction to discovering your idea is already out there and available, is to feel like you’re already behind, you can’t catch up, there’s no point trying. But this is where you’d be hella wrong!
Being faster doesn’t have to mean getting it to market first, it could also apply to providing faster function of the service, or implementing a strategy to grow your reach and awareness faster than competitors, or even being faster to expand to additional services.
3. Be More Valuable
Think about what value your product or service will provide initially, and then brainstorm possibilities for adding EXTRA values on top of that.
Can you offer the same thing for a lower cost while still adding margin? Can you include additional services within the cost? Is your service so bloody amazing that it is of greater value to the customer to actually pay more than they would to the competitor?
These are just three ways that you can explore elevating your idea to not only credibly sit alongside competitors but potentially to rise above them. Remember humans are not all identical, they all crave different styles, uses, features and values from everything they’re purchasing, this is why multiple car brands, or phone manufacturers, or camera brands can exist.
For a more specific example let’s take a look at UBER… there is also Lyft, Bolt, and many many more app>taxi brands. They all provide the same basic function – (getting you home safely after a few gins, when you don’t have any cash on you!), but each one has subtle differences that appeal to different people – design, cost, experience etc.
So ladies, if you discover competitors appearing during the early stages of launching your business, don’t stop, just adapt! Shift some elements around, analysis everything these competitors are doing, and use it as fuel to empower your creative thinking, momentum and drive to see how yours can be better, or faster, or more valuable!!
