Competition isn’t something that many business owners will initially welcome. It can make life much harder, especially if the goods and services being sold by the competition are almost identical to whatever you’re selling. However, when you stop to think about it, you may realize that this competition is actually good for you and for your business. Here are some of the reasons why competition can benefit you.

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 Better Awareness

When there is a lot of competition, more people will be aware of the products or services you are selling. That means you will need to do less marketing that revolves around the product and more that revolves around teaching people how you are different (and better) than the rest. The more businesses that are selling the same or similar thing to you, the more people will know about it, helping you out significantly.

Better Supplier Prices

If a supplier is only making something for you, they won’t be making that much of it (comparatively speaking). Therefore their prices will be higher. If many businesses buy the same products from these suppliers, their prices will go down, which means you can be highly competitive on price. You might even be able to negotiate discounts for bulk orders or for paying in advance, all of which will add to your profits when you sell on to your customers.

More Customers

If many places are selling a similar product to you, more customers will want that product. They may not realize they want or need it at first, but if they keep seeing stores that sell a similar product being advertised, they may find that they do have a need for it after all. Therefore, consumption of your product will increase, usually meaning there is room for a number of similar businesses to work together, or at least in the same space.

You Can Be Different

If you don’t want to join the competition, then it is time to beat them. You can take this opportunity to show that you are different and prove to people why they should use you rather than someone else. It could be that you use specialist software to help your customers, or perhaps you have exceptional customer service. You might offer a loyalty scheme or special discounts from time to time. Once you have worked out what makes you different, you can use that to your advantage.

You’ll Be More Efficient

If many businesses are vying for the same customers, you’ll become much more efficient, and customer-focused which will help to make people want to use you time and again. If someone calls you to make an appointment, for example, you’ll be far more likely to respond and book them in as soon as possible, rather than waiting to get back in touch because you have other things to do – that can help to make a sale. Or perhaps you have a social media account; if there is a lot of competition, you need to be the one who responds and engages with your customers; this can make a lot of difference.

It’s easy to become complacent in business. You may not even realize that it has happened until you begin to notice that you are losing customers, and by then, it could be too late to change things enough to make a difference. Therefore you should always be as present and engaged as you possibly can be otherwise you will lose customers and find it hard to get them back again.

Better Customer Satisfaction

Customers who are buying from a sector that has a lot of competition in it are often happier, and this can benefit you greatly. They are happy because they have a lot of choice; if they don’t find that they enjoy buying from one business, they can go on to buy from another who will look after them better. Therefore, it’s essential that one of your USPs is that you treat your customers well. The goods and services that they are buying are almost immaterial – it’s the service and the experience they get from it all that really counts.

If you know this, you can use it to your advantage. By making sure that your customers are always happy, you can put yourself ahead of the competition.

More Innovation

Competition can also help with product innovation and enhancement. If there are a lot of businesses selling the same thing, then the business that comes up with a way to make that product or service even better will be the one to gain the most customers. Due to this, businesses with a lot of competition are constantly striving to make what they do better.

If you have no competition, you may just stay the same for many years. This is a mistake because your customers will start to look elsewhere – they don’t necessarily want to buy the same thing over and over again. If you can change your products or add more, your customers will stay with you as they will buy different things from a place with excellent customer service. Innovating is the best way for a company to move forward to your final goals, whether that’s to expand or to sell quickly for your retirement, even if there is no competition to force it to happen.

You’ll Push Yourself More

If you know you need to stand out from the crowd, you will do what it takes to make yourself noticed. This is good for your business and good for you personally as well. One way to do this is to go back to school – perhaps just part-time or in the evenings. You might choose to learn more about the sector you are already in or, if you are looking to expand, you might want to study something that means you can move into a different but complementary sector.

You can also choose to step outside of your comfort zone and do things you might never have thought possible before, such as networking or giving talks and workshops. These things will all boost your business and your self-esteem, but you may not have considered them when there was no competition to think about.