“You can’t just beat a team, you have to leave a lasting impression in their minds so they never want to see you again”
–Mia Hamm – American Soccer Player

I have a motto on the weekdays and sometimes the weekends – if I sleep, then my competition may get a jump on me. If I am awake and constantly competing, then they don’t stand a chance. This is the same in any industry for any firm. Firmly know your strengths and my weaknesses and use those strengths to ensure that the company will not be beaten by any of your competitors. Therefore, if you are good at marketing, make sure your competition cannot touch you at any facet of advertising or marketing. Also, by the time they figure out your skills, you are going to be so far ahead of them and, the main problem for them will be that you won’t stop. You will be like a hornet’s nest. Every time they go near you, you sting. I hate to paraphrase Donald Trump, but when asked about his light sleeping habits, he said that he would rest when he was dead.

The amount of work you do should be regardless of how many competitors there are or how good or prestigious their firm may be to the public. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. As a small company, you are constantly the under-dog; embrace this because it is not going to be for long. Work harder, smarter and know where and when you can beat them and execute. Having the big companies not know you is a beautiful advantage; if they don’t even know who you are, how are they going to adjust their strategy. Bragging is for people who are ignorant, annoying and, most importantly, are about to get beat.

Here is a great quote by Brett Favre regarding how he hit his competition without them knowing and the effects of being complacent (like how your bigger competitors may have come to be) are.

“Because after my first year I had a lot of success, took everybody by storm, came back the next year thought it was easy and didn’t have near the season I had the previous year….” –Brett Favre

Just like in soccer or football, in business you have to have all team members going at full-pace. When your entire team is going at full-throttle and they are intelligent and have a passion for beating the competition, your rival companies are in for a big treat. As a business owner, you have to instill hatred for the people who are competing with you. Time and time again, account and account again, slowly bring your competition to their knees. When I Google broad phrases which would bring up my competition, the Google map arises; this is also known as Google Places (if your company is not listed on there, look into it, it’s free). When I look, what I see is a bunch of companies with addresses in Mid-town Manhattan crossing 5th Avenue. I enjoy looking at this because we are located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan where it is not as prestigious, though it is a heck of a lot cheaper. A nice address shows that your competition is being somewhat complacent. It’s almost like the – “I have the nice car, nice house and I’ve made it!” American cliche.

As you will see, these companies like to market the fact that they are located in the highest rent part of the business section. Instead, market the fact that everybody in our firm, time after time, now beats the competition. Make them rethink that rent. Remember, the only tiring part about winning and beating your competition is that you cannot stop. You can’t only beat them sometimes; you have to beat them time and time again. Although it is tiring, practice this competitive attitude and it will become the norm in your office, then and only then, relax a little bit, your team will take care of it. Once you’re done relaxing repeat the steps because if you relax too much, you’re becoming the competition and are open to being beat by firms who are up and coming.

Author Bio: Ken Sundheim runs a New York City marketing recruiting firm sales recruiters sales recruitment agencies and marketing staffing company anti virus software

Category: Advice
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