AAAAAAAAA Run for the Hills, The competition is coming!!!!
Running your own business gives you the highest of the highest and the lowest of the lows, and I know from working with business women as their business coach, exactly what that looks like first hand. I personally too know that scary feeling of “aaaaa there is someone else doing what I do, it’s the death of my business, what shall I do?” You can practically hear the warning sirens and the panic stations being manned. But the fact is competition is a good thing, it offers your potential clients variety, a choice, and something that we often forget is, it offers them the chance to see that actually YOU are the best for them, and that they need not look elsewhere wondering “Could we do better?” “Is this the best deal?” because competition reminds them of how brilliant you are regularly.
Obviously you have to appreciate what your competitors are doing and ensure that you are always at the forefront of your industry, always assessing whether you are genuinely doing your best for your customers and your potential customers. At the end of the next sentence stop reading for a moment and answer the following question in your head with the first words that come into your mind;
“Do I know that I am doing everything I could to offer my current customers the very best services, or if I was honest with myself is there something that I am missing that could stand me apart from the crowd?”
Your first response is your gut instinct, so think about what you thought and maybe have a look at what you offer, is it time to think again about your business strategy, your products and services?
I speak from experience here (on more than one occasions over my…er..a lady never tells you her age) years of business experience, about this and the impact of competitors. You see as the founder of The Business Woman’s Network I knew exactly what I wanted because I could not find what I wanted anywhere else, don’t get me wrong there are plenty of great networking opportunities, but I wanted so much more. Well when have you ever met a woman that did not want the best and the moon on a stick?
I wanted great proactive networking, but I wanted it to be welcoming to newbie’s and business women petrified of public speaking or meeting new people. I wanted it to deliver new ideas and opportunities for business women. I wanted to go somewhere I could get any answers I needed for the success of my business, be it in my own skill or mind set or in contacts, leads and training. As we near our second birthday the reputation we have built for ourselves is second to none and we deliver exactly what I set out to, but I still get nervous occasionally when a new networking group sets up. But I know we deliver something very special, as the wonderful Loess Overbury Tapper from Tapper Financial Services pointed out to me recently “We are always encouraging people to come to our group (they run this great networking event in Colchester once a fortnight, get in touch with me for more info) I do feel that it works even better if they can attend a group where there’s more structure too but without the pressure of the hard sell. That is where the BWN fits in” We always get business women thanking us for the impact that we have on their business and on their success. For the connections we helped them make, we pride ourselves on not just providing you with a venue and a roomful of businesses, we actively look to connect you, so our coordinators like to get to know about you and your business and what you need to get the results you want, so they can help it happen, And boy do we do that.
When we had an add up we worked out we had helped businesses across East Anglia in so many ways in 2010, from actually securing big contracts, to overcoming public speaking fears (to the point where they now love the stage) and using social media for more than a way of procrastinating and looking busy to getting them on the telly, and in the news. We helped them create new ideas, new products and get in front of some of the best public speakers on business and success in the country. Including a few international authors, a rock god (Peter Cook will love that title) and even a millionaire mentor.
Our tag line is As Passionate About Your Success As You Are, and everyone that comes along soon sees that is most definitely the case. So do we fear competition? On the contrary we like to scare them by saying “Hey come along to The BWN and let us promote your events (freaky eh? Business working together for the success of everyone, but it works.) In this way, we know that business women are getting in front of the very best opportunities for their business success.
So what about a new approach? What about not just checking out the competition, what about engaging with and working with them?
Now where could that lead?
If you would like to learn more about The BWN, come along anytime, we have no membership fees so everyone is classed as a member, we have opportunities to promote you online, through our social media and even at all events even if you can’t make it. Every woman in business is welcome and we can’t wait to meet you and learn about your business and your business needs.
For free top tips, ideas, reports and solutions explore our website and if you would like to keep up to date on our events, opportunities and speakers get in touch as we never automatically add anyone to our website.
I’m the Suffolk and Essex Coordinator and the founder of The BWN and I would love to hear from you.
