Your Greatest Competitor Should be Yourself

How many companies have failed because competitors have made their products or services obsolete in the marketplace?

Don’t worry . . . its a rhetorical question, so I don’t expect you to answer right away.

Coca-Cola vs. Coke Zero

Coca-Cola does a great job of parodying this concept in their Coke Zero commercials. Instead of trying to fight Pepsi, Coca-Cola wants to frame the message to say their own brands are their greatest competitors. Stop looking at me like you have no clue what I am talking about. If you have seen them, in the commercials we see two Coke Brand Managers trying to discredit Coke Zero because they believe it tastes too much like regular Coke. It is supposed to be funny. When you think about it from a brand management perspective, it is kind of humorous . . . if you are a brand manager.

What is Your Next Great Idea?

The point I am trying to get at is that business owners should always be trying to develop a next great idea that makes their current business model obsolete. Not having another idea working in the wings could mean the end of your company and your current success.

Restaurants are an example of businesses that need to heed this idea. How often does someone open a restaurant in a trendy neighborhood with a trendy menu, only to have it go under in eighteen months when the menu and neighborhood is not as trendy as it once was? There are many businesses big and small that have fallen as consumers find new companies and products that have changed the way they receive goods and services.

Are You Resting on Your Laurels?

What I find interesting is that this concept should be second nature to most currently successful small business owners. Are you not successful because you saw a different way of doing things in your market? What will happen if another person disrupts “your” market? Are you going to rest on your laurels or will you continue to develop the next big idea?

Be Your Own Worst Enemy

As Coca-Cola has demonstrated in their ads, you should be your own worst enemy. Success comes to those that innovate and failure comes to those who try to wait out the market. Your greatest competitor should not be another company; your greatest competitor should be yourself. It is the easiest way to stay ahead of everyone else.

Can you give me some examples of companies that have failed because they failed to compete with themselves?

Let us all know in the comments.

P.S. The comments are only open for 14 days. I have found that leaving them open any longer makes them a spam target. If you want to let me know what you thought of the article after 14 days, then contact me from my contact me page.

P.P.S – Don’t forget to vote for me to speak at SXSW!

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