Want to thrive in business? Stop competing.

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Business is tough. Customers are getting harder to find, and bank support for business has all but dried up. Every day, there are dire warnings that things could get still worse, as more people lose their jobs, and the economy grinds to a halt.

So how come many companies are still doing well? How can they outperform their competition? My experience is that there’s a simple answer. Stop competing. I don’t mean you should give up marketing your business, or withdraw from sectors where the competition is tough. Quite the reverse in fact. I’m suggesting you take a good look at your business and see what makes it unique. The thing that you do that no-one else does.

Cover via Amazon

Last year, a slim but fascinating volume was published called “Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History”, written by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan (ISBN 978-0470900529). For younger readers, The Grateful Dead were an iconic rock band from San Francisco, with millions of dedicated fans. The book is full of great advice, but the quote that caught my eye was from legendary concert promoter Bill Graham, who said of the band “They’re not the best at what they do, they’re the only ones that do what they do”.

I believe that simple phrase is the key to success, especially for small businesses. There’s no point in trying to beat people at their own game. What you need to do is change the rules, or invent a new game that only you play. Obviously, there’s a caveat. You need to be offering something that the market wants. But that’s not as hard as it sounds. I can think of many examples in my close circle of friends, who exist in markets where there is no competition, or who have created that perception.

Take my pal Dale Irvin for example. Dale is a professional speaker and erstwhile master of ceremonies at conferences. He noticed that the best receptions he received came at the end of events, when he would deliver a summary of the proceedings, throwing in a few funny lines. He worked on this element of his service, and found that he started getting bookings just because of what he said and did at the end of the last day. He created a new profession “professional summarizer” of which he is the only member. If you Google the term, you’ll see what I mean. He’s even trademarked the term in the USA, so he literally owns the profession. That’s all he now does. He attends events, watches every presenter, and then delivers a very funny twenty-minute summary at the conclusion of the final day. It’s not just funny, either. He captures the key point of every speech, and presents them as a reminder to the delegates.

OK, you may not be able to create your own profession. In that case, what you can do is to identify the features of your business that others can’t compete with. I can hear what you’re thinking. You’re not sure that you have anything unique. Perhaps there are dozens of other companies doing exactly what you do. If that’s true, you’re going to struggle. I’m betting there really is something special that you offer that no-one else does. Find it and make it the cornerstone of your offering. Don’t be the best at what you do. Be the only one doing what you do.

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