#16 - NOT LEARNING FROM YOUR COMPETITORS

This sounds like one of those “Common Sense” things, that may need to go unsaid. Unfortunately, the past 44 years has taught me that this mistake is all too common. Every one of your primary competitors has something to teach you. What are they doing, that resulted in their successes and failures? Allow their successes to inspire you, but do not pirate their efforts. Is there something unique that they missed? Is there something that you could do even better? Allow their failures to instill caution in you. Are you doing something similar, that doesn’t seem to be working well? Maybe through them, you can mitigate losses. Any way you look at it, they share the same market, so there’s no doubt that you can learn from one another.

Before I climb down from my soapbox, let me add this about your competitors. Perhaps they took some business that you thought was yours, or just in general, you may think of them in some negative terms. That comes with the territory, when you’re competing for the same customer, but that does not make them your enemy. What I advise, in the most adamant way possible, is don’t ever speak ill of them to others. Keep any negative thoughts to yourself, and even find ways to praise your competitors. At the very least, they deserve respect for being in business, period. You already know how difficult that is. More importantly, if you take the high road, everyone will speak highly of you as well … including some of your competitors.