Competition, a game of rivals. Some people avoid it, some people embrace it, and some don't care about it. No matter what your take on competition is, you can always learn something about what your business rivals are doing.
Observing what the competition is doing is like validation. It helps you know whether you're doing something right or not. Your competition can help fill the gaps.
When I was managing my business, I used to observe what McDonald's was doing. I needed to learn what they were doing to run a business. I thought about ways on how to apply and adapt what they do in my business. And as I gained experience, I began to realize what my limitations were.
- Leaders don't know what they're doing
Almost every person in a rank-and-file position assumes their business leaders know what they're doing. That's what they're here for, that's their job. The reality is, most of us are lost.
We had a vision of what our cafe will look like. We focused on serving Italian food that had a touch of Italian ambiance. Our competition focused their efforts on us. They analyzed our prices and they served what we served. They were mimicking us.
Although it was a bit irritating in my part, they were doing it correctly. There are things that you don't have to start again. The wheel was invented hundreds of years ago, we don't need to reinvent it. What we need to do is learn from it, imitate it, and make it better.
Leaders need plans. Plans are used to guide the company. Plans are solid things that keep the team directed at a common path. Even with a solid plan, issues can arise and the team handling the issues should be well equipped to deal with it.
- What works for one business, doesn't necessarily work for another
If your business isn't a franchise, a "copy-paste" business will fail. Different factors affect businesses. Market conditions, business purpose, logistics, and cost impact how a business operates.
If we didn't stick to our Italian ambiance, obviously it wouldn't be Italian. The truth of the matter of is, no matter how trivial it may be, many restaurateurs don't operate with a concept in mind. They offer a mix of different cuisines — such as Italian, Japanese and American — and fuse the ambiance together. It may sound like a good idea, but most of the times, it creates a recipe for disaster.
Not knowing your customer, is like shooting in the dark. You aim and hope that you hit your target. A business targeted to a Hooters market will not work for a business targeted at a Mcdonalds' market. Although it doesn't necessarily mean that people who go to Hooters don't go to Mcdonalds.
- When change happens, it happens fast
The only thing permanent is change. Change can happen any day. It can happen all of a sudden, or without notice.
I was living in Japan when the 7.9 magnitude earthquake happened back in 2011. It's a very tragic story for Japan as a nation and it is a compelling story to share. Before the earthquake, there were no signs of a big earthquake hitting Japan anytime soon. In a moments notice, a series of events happened. A big earthquake hit Japan followed by a tsunami, and then a nuclear meltdown hit the Fukushima power plant. The country was in chaos. The people were in tears.
Change can either be internal or external. External changes can be environmental, change in government policies, or competition. Internal changes can be financial, technological, or people. What happened with my restaurant business is a case of an external change. Most schools in our vicinity decided to shift the start of the school year from June to August. Most of our customers were college students. What this resulted to was 2 months of summer vacation plus another 2 months of transition. Overhead costs and fixed became too much for us to handle.
Leaders need to be proactive. Learn the trade, get better at it, and keep on learning. Don't be afraid of change, embrace it. That's the only way you can protect your business from the unknown.
To sum it all up, business is like a wheel. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Get the instructions on how to build it, understand why it works, and innovate to get better at it. Almost everything about business has been thought about, all you have to do is learn it, and apply it. Although you should always remember that solutions laid out to you are not one-size-fits-all solutions. That's why business can be exciting.
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