Playing Well With Others:  Rethinking Competition

Fact: You can't be everything to everybody.  Your customers want services and products you don't currently offer.  You're reluctant to refer them to other wellness businesses because you don't want to lose the customer.  You don't want to invite other professionals into your business to provide services because you don't want to give up those dollars either.

 

Our view: Competition only exists when your business and another business in your market area are chasing the same dollars...targeting identical customers, solving the same problems in identical ways. Curves, for example, is not competing with 24 Hour Fitness or Gold's Gym.  A locally-developed healthy living program that targets yo-yo dieters is not competing with the Apex weight management program that a gym offers. 

 

If customers see more value from your service when you incorporate another product or service, then you need to offer that product or service.  If you don't have the in-house capability, that's OK - this is a chance to bring in another business with complementary skills.  You can leverage each other's customers and both be better off.

 

Complementary businesses can coexist very well - for example, there's a "fitness village" in one Texas community that has two gyms (targeting different customers) in the same block, plus other wellness businesses focused on nutrition, mind/body, martial arts, and more.  It works because each retailer focuses on its specialty and customers like one-stop shopping.  Far from competing, the presence of related businesses in a cluster actually attracts wellness-oriented consumers who like the convenience.

 

Action: Identify your key business focus.  Then, identify products and services which would make your business more valuable in your customers' eyes.  If those are tightly linked to your focus, offer those products and services yourself.  Otherwise, network to other wellness businesses to offer those services.  The most important thing is to make your business valuable in the eyes of customers - how you do it is less important.  Don't be threatened by the need to reach out to other professionals or other wellness-related businesses.

 

Think broadly.  What other products and services would be of interest to your clientele?  For example, if customers are interested in healthy eating, you might consider any or all of the following:  supplements, nutraceuticals and "phood", cooking workshops, an organic produce buying circle, a program with a tie-in to a local gardening center. 

 

By partnering with related businesses, you create far more opportunities for your customers to buy from you, and you get access to the customers of those related businesses as well.  In some cases, a financial arrangement between you and a related business may make sense - revenue-sharing, commissions, finder's fees, etc. - but that's not always essential or advisable.  Give us a call at 214-651-8155 if you have a question about how to make these relationships work - we'd be happy to spend a few minutes discussing your specific situation.

 

(c) 2005