The Pros and Cons of Healthy Competition

Last week I spent most of my Ginger Sky time doing further research into the competition. Having already researched the market when I was developing my idea, I am now adding to this research ahead of my launch later this year. I'm not going to divulge my research to you in this blog but I do want to discuss the pros and cons of healthy competition.

The biggest con of having competition is losing existing and potential customers who can get the same products and/or services through another company. If more than one retailer stocks the same or similar products the customer has a choice to make and either way at least one of the retailers is going to lose out. This week in my research I learned that a big name retailer has recently started to carry one of the product lines I am looking to stock myself. As one of my unique selling points is to sell items that are unique or hard to come by, this news has meant I need to re-think my strategy, but this leads nicely onto the pros of healthy competition.

 

The main pro is that by having competition it can push you onto bigger and better things. With this other company now stocking products I was looking to sell it means I will now get more creative and push myself onto improving the services and products that I offer. This could be through the goods that I offer, developing new research channels and opening communication with new suppliers to get that unique range that I require. It might also mean that I get more creative with my marketing, coming up with new and unique ways of attracting that potential customer. Competition also means that once I have a customer base I will work extra hard to keep those customers loyal to Ginger Sky.
 
Without competition you can reach a plateau with your company with only your own motivation to keep you pushing upwards. However, by combining your own motivation with the motivation you can garner from healthy competition it could help you reach the summit. It can give you that extra push, that creative spark, to think of the outside-of-the-box ideas that in the end could tip the balance in your favour. As with many things in business, these are not obstacles to get in the way but are in