What is Community Over Competition?
By: Lauren Marsicano
Insta: @networkingmaverick
What is Community Over Competition?
There’s a fine line between community and competition. In business, people in your community are often your competition. But if competition were a coin, it would have two distinct sides:
(1) Heads - healthy, friendly competition that serves the purpose of motivator and productivity booster; and (2) tails - always winning, even at the expense of others. Competition has its place, but when that competition flips to tails, it’s not helpful for you or businesses around you.
The best business is not concerned with how to take clients from the competition, or even how to earn more money than them. A truly successful business focuses on serving customers to the best of their ability, and raising up others around them. It’s all about the people they serve, and that makes business a matter of community.
Community over competition is not…
Dimming your light. You don’t have to put yourself down to bring others up. You don’t have to indiscriminately support every business at a cost to your own.
Demanding help. When you approach another business for help, don’t expect them to hand you all of the information you need. Businesses will help you only if you help them in return, or have helped them in the past.
Helping businesses that do not serve their customers well. Do not let companies who don’t serve their customers well, bring you and your business down.
Showing others exactly how you do things. You don’t have to invest a large amount of time to show another business how you do things so well.
Community over competition is…
Shining your light. Doing what you love. Serving your customers well. And feeling secure in the knowledge that you bring value to your business by putting people, and quality of service, above profit.
Asking for help. Asking another business for help with the mentality that you will return the favor.
Helping businesses that serve customers well. Propping up other businesses with similar values can make both businesses even bigger successes.
Being better together. Creating a partnership or collaborative relationship with businesses similar to yours is what community over competition is all about.
Knowing that success will come. Focusing on helping and serving other businesses and your customers, gives you the security of knowing that that’s how you truly win.
Sharing resources. Other companies that are similar to yours, but less advanced in development, might approach you to ask for help finding resources. Pointing them in the right direction is a great practice that helps everyone grow. This creates a relationship with the other company, and they might help you in the future.
Expressing gratitude. Show gratitude to another business when they have helped you. You can express gratitude to another business by sending them customers, or talking to others about how they helped you.
Community over competition means putting people and relationships above everything else. It’s focusing on service over the bottom line. Asking for help, and helping in return. Pointing others in the right direction when they ask for help. And, most important to keeping a relationship with another company alive, expressing gratitude. Practicing community over competition ensures your efforts will result in success, while helping those around you do the same.