Talk Money Café

How do you view your competition?  Do you view them as an enemy that must be conquered and destroyed?

Should you try to beat your competition with force or ingenuity?  While conquests and total world domination may seem appealing, these overly aggressive traits often yield unpleasant consequences.  In a fight, there are winners and there are losers.  While you may appear to have the upper hand at one moment, the tables could quickly turn in the blink of an eye.  Someone is going to end up as the loser lying on the ground, figuratively speaking.

Instead of involving yourself in these destructive activities, why not take a more constructive approach?  Create value.  Instead of investing all of your energy in competitive price wars, channel your energy towards ingenuity.  Find ways to make things more fresh, simple, intuitive, convenient, and fun for the customer.  Be innovative – continue to seek out unique ways to offer your product or service.

Yesterday, I was reading an article on Inc.com that explained how online retail stores can beat the competition (the overall theme of this article can apply to any kind of business):  http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2009/01/etail.html

Consumers who purchased most often from a particular store were attracted by an innovative user experience moreso than price.  While different stores may have had slightly varying levels of price and quantity in stock, the main thing that these frequent shoppers were attracted to was the shopping experience.

Ninety-three percent of power shoppers said that it’s a critical need that sites have fresher content and new features to improve user experience, including easy-to-use checkout, easy browsing and item-location, and clear and simply accessible product information.

Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru agreed that shoppers are becoming more sophisticated. “Consumers expect to get material more rapidly, in a more easy-to-manipulate form,” she said. “If it takes too long to load, there are too many other options—anyone without great performance metrics will suffer,” she said.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated:  “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

At times, it is tempting to go down the path of retaliation.  Instead, invent a new path that will challenge others to try to follow in your footsteps.  Leave your unique mark.  If you show that you can create value, then customers will vouch for you with their wallets.