Can You Collaborate with your Competition?
Abundance or scarcity is the choices we have when considering how to run our businesses. How do you choose between a collaborative and a competitive business model? Do we have a choice? By choosing one or the other, will the other limit or increase your chance for success? Let’s examine the choices.
The word competition, to most, increases stress. Let’s face it, there are good stresses and then there are those that have a negative impact. Positive stresses come from exercise. Running, weight lifting and team sports have a positive impact on physical health. A good game of chess has positive stress, as we expand our thought process to win the game. Many board games, like Scrabble, can be stressful, but are great fun.
When competing with like businesses we do not share with anyone. We are protective. Our creative juices stop flowing because we can only share things in confidence. Even when we share, we are afraid to let down our guard. We don’t let people in to our inner circle. We are acting from positions of scarcity.
Abundance allows us to let down our guard. We naturally let people in. All businesses now support us. Stress is lessened, if not eliminated.
Have you ever played a competitive sport? When playing tennis, I always looked to find someone who played better than I do. They were always eager to show me by beating me handily. They let me in. They operated from abundance.
When I found two or three Tennis opponents who were better than I did, eventually I could combine learned skills. Those new skills allowed me to win against opponents who in the past beat me easily. As they learned new skills, they won over me.
Have you heard about the Iowa farmer? His corn was judged as the best every year at the Iowa State Fair. Each year after the State Fair, he gave the adjoining farms, on all sides of his fields, enough FREE corn to plant their fields. HE GAVE THEM PRIZE-WINNING PLANTING FREE. Prize winning planting corn for FREE. Why?
When asked “Why” he answered, “When I give my corn free, those adjoining fields contribute to my corn’s success. The pollination from field to field makes my corn the best in Iowa each year.”
How about the lady that runs a bookkeeping business? After three years she had more business than she could handle. She did not want to give business away. What did she do? She found a competitor that she could share the abundance. The competitor had like values so was given the business so she could grow her business.
Can one practice competition and collaboration simultaneously? That is worry about your competition, so as you always stay ahead. Can one company always expect to lead? What is the expense in terms of life enjoyed? Who will compete for what you have? Where will those competitors come from next?
As collaborators we are joined in leadership. Arm in arm with the concept of getting ahead. Synergy is our motto, where the sum of the parts is greater than anyone is alone.
In either case, choose your position wisely. Consider the type of life style each will provide. I am sure as you do make your plan; you will find the satisfaction of personal success.
Gerry Rose runs INTEGRITY Networking Solutions in Oceanside, CA. He works with people in business who want to attract the right prospects and generate more referrals. More than 10,000 businesses have been presented the INTEGRITY Networking Solutions system in San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Orange Counties.
Gerry’s stimulating presentation Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals is ideally suited for small business owners, home-based businesses, and independent professionals who want clearer direction and want to attract more prospects, develop dynamic systems, and strengthen their companies’ accountability. Gerry does one on one consulting, conducts a range of keynote speeches from thirty minutes to full-day education workshops.
His book series, Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals, are available on the website, www.integritysd.com.
Gerry has more than 20 years’ experience directing business owners how to grow their businesses. He is a networking dynamo. Those who know him will assure you that he does a great job of bringing people together—which is why he started INTEGRITY.
Involved with networking organizations since 1984, Gerry is a Distinguished Toastmaster, a member of Toastmaster International, and has chaired numerous chambers of commerce and non-profit organizations.
Are you truly committed to attracting the right prospects and generate more referrals? If so then contact INTEGRITY Networking Solutions for availability and information. You can contact Gerry by mail at 1610 Quiet Hills Drive, Oceanside, CA 92056. Direct dial (760) 439-4623; e-mail to gerry@integritysd.com. For more information, go to www.integritysd.com
