Know Your Competition - And Survive

When I travel around our beautiful country I often stay at hotels belonging to the City Lodge Group. The group has shown tremendous growth over the past year (2006) increasing headline earnings by 18%, turning a R144 million profit and maintaining an occupancy rate of 79%.

The group was founded in 1985 by Hans Ederle and since 1996 has been managed by Clifford Ross. In a recent interview with Monique Verduyn of Entrepreneur magazine, Ross makes a comment which I believe any business owner should take heed of :

Our operations directors and I always stay in competitor hotels when we visit the regions. We look at what they are doing and assess our standards against theirs.
You have to know your competition so that you can be a cut above them.

There is so much wisdom wrapped up this quote! Knowing what your competitors are doing is essential if you are to position yourself positively in your market.

Knowing what your competition is about allows you to do the following :

1) Develop an offering that will meet a need that is unmet by your competition
2) Upgrade your offering so that customers will prefer you to your competitors
3) Remain humble as you see that some of your competitors do certain things better than you do
4) Rectify what you noticed from point 3!

In my humble opinion there is nothing more unattractive in an entrepreneur than an arrogant "I have all the answers" attitude. This never bodes well for future long-term success.

John F Kennedy said, "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." - we cannot suppose to be leaders in our business if we cannot make the time to learn. It is often from our competitors that we learn so much about ourselves!

The stark reality of business is that intense competition is a fact. If you have a client, someone else is trying to take them away from you. If a prospect has a need, someone else is trying to beat you to the deal. New competitors are popping up all the time, and old competitors are constantly changing their products, strategies, messaging, and pricing. It is in your best interest not to be arrogant but to engage your competition and get to know them well.