268 - [MARKETING] Your Competitors (Other Tradies) Are Not The Enemy – They Can Be Very Helpful

There’s a narrative that is apparent in everything that tells us that our competitors are the enemy. You’re all out there competing for the limited business on offer – like seagulls fighting over some chips. It’s a dog-eat-dog world. That’s the story, isn’t it? It engenders a suspicious, jealous, play your cards close to your chest, kind of feeling. “Don’t tell people what you charge, they might come and undercut you on deals and you’d lose and you’d be chump as well.” That’s out there, isn’t it? It’s in what we read – this view that business is competition between business especially track business for the customers. Sites like HiPages encourage it and the pricing fee, in particular, is everywhere. But it’s not really true. And if you let yourself be too influenced by this narrative, you miss out on some stuff that will probably help you. I see it everywhere and I’ve felt it myself. I see the ads of my competitors and I feel a bit threatened or defensive or critical (sometimes, anyway). If they post pictures of customers at events and they’ve clearly got more people there than I get to my events, I feel a bit jealous. But it’s bulls%*t. I’ve met some of the other trade and builder business coaches. I’ve liked them all. And every single one of them has shared information to help me with my business. And I’ve shared too. A bunch of us all share the same business coach for business coaches. This makes me think (of course) about how this might be for my clients. And it’s the same for them! The narrative is there, “Don’t tell people your prices or your margins”, and “Be careful”. But, by and large, they also know their direct competitors and mostly like them. If I read between the lines, there’s cautious and high-level sharing of information about market conditions and suchlike but not much sharing about more detailed or sensitive stuff. My clients share information with each other – they’re in a business coaching program together and on the same journey of growing their business and their profits and building the systems necessary for that. And mostly, they aren’t in direct competition with each other, either, so that’s not such a big effect and it makes sharing easier. My message is this: Join my program and network with your peers here and learn from each other, of course. And talk to your competitors, open a dialogue and share some knowledge about what’s working and not, about pricing and how you’re really doing. Yeah, there’s a risk someone will set their prices lower than yours and run around undercutting you and stealing your jobs. But it's very small, really. Most of your friends wouldn’t. Talk to the decent ones and not the ar$eh*l%s. Use your judgement. It’s more likely that you’ll help each other and make each other braver to charge a bit more, (you know you probably need to) and learn things from each other that will help you both improve and grow your business. Also, it’s a nice way to be in the world. Buy my thing. Book a call to learn more. ----------------------------------------------------------- If you’re interested in growing your trade business, head over to our website and you can read some more of these Tradies Toolbox Tips: https://www.smallfish.com.au/trades-business-coaching/ Book a money-maker call: https://www.smallfish.com.au/chat FOLLOW US AT: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoach Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau