Can you be friends with your competitors? Building and maintaining a good friendship with a fellow entrepreneur in your sector can be no easy feat. Envy and jealousy can easily impact your interactions, leading to unspoken resentments and conflict and causing imposter syndrome.
Many newer businesses find it strange that the wedding and creative industry is so collaborative. They perhaps have come from a sector where you are encouraged to be suspicious and cagey when it comes to your business rivals. And you most definitely wouldnโt be encouraging them!
When I launched the UKAWP it was to create a community where we can support each other and learn. I believed then, and do so now, that by sharing information we can improve as business owners.
When I started training wedding planners, family thought I was crazy and many other sectors within the wedding industry couldnโt understand why I would do this. Photographers and florists said this would never be possible in their world. I think what people failed to realise is we are all different and so are our clients.
As a wedding planner I was very close to many of my peers both nationally and locally. And as a business consultant I connect with other coaches and mentors in the creative sphere.ย And it is not unusual to bring them in to my programmes to teach a specific topic. I see this as a positive addition to what I personally offer to those in my world.
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Benefits of being close to your competitors
- You can share your zone of genius, each learning and teaching something new, Perhaps you are a whizz at tech but struggle with being visible. You can both offer tips and advice which will be relevant to your industry
- You can *freelance for each other (more on this below)
- Identify differentiator points. Itโs not just about being friends, it is also recognising what makes you different. You may offer the same service but deliver this in a completely unique way. This helps you understand your market positioning
- Strengthen the industry standards. By sharing information including practicalities of what you offer you will benefit not just your own businesses but this sector as a whole. This happened within the wedding planning industry. By having open discussions about pricing new planners who were connecting with others, would know what is an acceptable price to start in at. Whereas those that launch and are secretive would invariably price too lo, this in turn would impact the industry negatively.
- Share information on scam artists. In my wedding planners community I share common scams so newer planners do not get conned
- Share views on suppliers who are dishonest and should be avoided at all costs as well as those that deserve their own gold crown
- You can refer business to each other, after all word of mouth is an excellent referral scheme
When working as a wedding planner and owning the UKAWP we operated a freelance scheme whereby planners could request additional planners for an event. And I loved this. I freelanced for friends and members over the years and benefitted greatly. For starters I was under no pressure compared to running the event myself. Secondly it gave me a chance to see how they ran an event, how this compared to my own business.
It helps build your trustworthiness and integrity.
Imagine you are speaking with 2 competitors.
The first one is rude, isnโt willing to share and comes across as rather arrogant. They may also be bemoaning about others in the industry. The second one is polite, encouraging and embodies community over competition.
Which one do you want to spend more time with?
Which one would you recommend to others in the future?
How to make connections
Engage in conversations in facebook communities and others where peers hang out. Think about joining a membership whether entrepreneurial or industry relevant. Attend networking meetings / soirees and connect with peers attending. Engage with competitors on social media , sharing posts and leaving comments. Embrace the community and set out to make new connections each week. Some may remain acquaintances and others may become good friends.
Remember
- Donโt be afraid to ask questions in person or in the groups
- But equally be prepared to listen โ all too often I am finding people asking questions then dismissing the excellent advice thatโs been given
- View them as industry peers not competitors. Read my article on networking for some ice breaker questions if youโre nervous
- The people at the top are collaborating and connecting with each other. Use this as your future goal. Negative competition happens at the bottom.
- Support your competitors and be a cheerleader for them
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