SMART 'STEALING' : KEY TO BUSINESS GROWTH

 

Many business folks are struggling in their businesses today. They can hardly break through at the end of a financial year, much less declare profit. Many intelligent, passionate and hardworking business folks are so broke and unhappy; they are not doing so well in business.

They’ve thought up all they can, tried all they can and applied all they know, yet no significant improvement.

Some have gone for trainings, read some relevant materials and paid keen attention to their work yet things aren’t working. They hence, end up discouraged, exasperated and then begin to blame the environment and every other factor for their frustrations.

Dear friend, the reality is, there are some people, doing your same kind of business, in your same environment, within the same situation but doing extremely well and declaring back to back profit.

I’ve personally observed many upcoming business people take personal and get emotional about the reality of competition and natural business strife. They of course don’t like their competitors hence cannot see anything good in them. They criticise their competitors, bad mouth competitors approach, their strategy and their products at times. In fact some go spiritual and divinely scheme the destruction of competitors.

Dear friend this is not a smart disposition if you want to grow and win in business. As a smart business man, never criticise of see the fault in your competitors, instead, look out for what they are doing right, perfectly well and better than you at doing.

I’ll want to introduce to you the concept of smart stealing. This is a business wisdom key where you’re on the lookout for the good and excellent and perfect attributes of your competitors and you replicate same in your own business.

Learn not to criticise a concept or a tactics working for your competitors and hope it will consequently backfire, instead copy it and if possible out do them and present it to customers as though the idea is originally yours if you know it’s a good idea.

For example, the concept of cocoa beverage or milk in a sachet was first introduced into the Nigerian market by Cadbury. Promasidor; makers of Cowbell, however probably saw it copied it and today everyone would argue and put their money on it that sachets for such products was first introduced by Promasidor. Probably I would have argued this way too except for the fact I used to work on one of the brands.

Promasidor probably saw it, ‘stole’ it and owned it stronger than Cadbury and till date it is generally believed to be a Promasidor initiative. Probably it is, but Cadbury was first with it in the market.

Dear friend, how do you see your competitors especially the ones doing much better than you are? Criticising, condemning and speaking ill of them won’t improve your bottom line.

Learn from your competitors; look for what they’re doing well, copy it and out do them. Don’t see them as enemies, see them as teachers - showing you how to do it and how not to do it.                                                                         -(CREDIT: Muyiwa Afolabi)