Let them make you better, not bitter

There’s an old saying that tells us, let your past make you better, not bitter.

I learned the hard way that we, as business owners, need to use a revised version of that saying: let your competitors make you better, not bitter.

When I started my business it grew very big, very quick and for a few years, I earned a ton of money.

Until…

I started to get fewer enquiries from new prospects. Then, even fewer new enquiries. Around that same time, I started hearing about a marketing agency that had moved into my area, focusing, like me, on small business owners. I started to resent the new agency. I assumed they were telling prospects anything, just to get the work in and that they’d soon be found out.

So, I ignored them.

Until it became impossible to ignore them.

It turns out they were good. Very good.

The agency was a partnership of 2 super smart professionals. They were also hard working and agile. There was clearly no point allowing my ego to resent their success and blame them for my situation.

So, I stopped being bitter. Then, focused everything on getting better.

Here’s the key lesson I hope you find useful, from my mistake.

If you have a competitor or a number of competitors ahead of you, there’s always a reason. The challenge is that it’s hard to admit to ourselves that a competitor is stronger than us in 1 or more areas.

When we look at our high-performing competitors with non-ego clarity, here’s what we’ll typically find.

They market their services better than we do.
They offer an outstanding s ervice.
They offer a valuable variation of a service that’s only available from them.
They’ve found a cost-effective way to deliver their service, and pass some of that onto their customers or clients.
And some do all of the above, plus more.

As I discovered, it can be painful to admit that we need to up our game. That we need to improve. That the competition, who some see as their enemy, is doing something better then we are. That we are the cause, and the cure, of our situation.

But when we do… and truly believe it’s down to us… we’re 90% of the way to what can be our greatest success ever.

Why?

Because we’ll accept we need to make improvements. And when we focus on making improvements, our actions follow. We’ll do the work or get the help we need.

And THAT’S what’s needed for us to finally enjoy the results we’ve always wanted.