…insights from entrepreneurs in the food industry in Nigeria

Episode 45 – EF Competition,EF Comparison, EF Awards Just serve your customers

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@bbcarvings @businessfeverng

WARNING CONTAINS A FEW NECESSARY SWEAR WORDS

  • Are you too focused on what your competition is doing?
  • Is your competition the one driving your car or gingering you to improve?

STOP THAT RIGHT NOW……

I will say for people that are just starting up, don’t worry about competition because it doesn’t exist; nobody has the same skills as you have; nobody has the resources that you have; nobody has the same advantage as you have; so, how are you going to be competing with others.

Yes, we both sell burgers but maybe I have a better means of sourcing mine; maybe I have a better way of cooking mine; maybe my location is better than your location; maybe my costumers are more loyal than your costumers. More than likely, each of us can create/find their own market.

What you don’t want to do is join the bus wagon where everybody is doing the exact same thing as the next person and make your brand similar like pure water where it’s hard to tell the difference.

  • Why do you want to build a brand that can  be compared with other brands?
  • Why do your care that your competition in the industry is winning awards and you are not, or they are getting more jobs than you?
  • Why do you care that they have multiple locations?

Now, I’m not saying don’t learn from the next person; you have to learn from their businesses and it’s good to even know what they are doing to see if you can improve on your own operations also see what direction to take or not to take. I have always wanted to define my own brand by my own standards – I didn’t go to any consultant. It is about what feels right for me and maybe what feels right for me may be what feels wrong for you – so, are we competing? No! We are not. So that alone tells you that your product, your branding and your strategy is not my strategy.

When you compete, what you end up doing may be overlooking your own advantage by trying to acquire new strategies that may not be within your strength or you may not even understand.

( when you copy, you never understand the process or the reasoning decisions were made to get to that business strategy or model)

So, if my advantage at my restaurant is speed, people will come to me because I’m fast then I now decide I want to be like my competition that has like a lounge atmosphere –  costumers were not coming to me because of that; they want a fast service only.

I think when you are in this business you have no competition; you can say you have colleagues, that’s fine – colleagues you can learn from not be in competition with them. You are only competing with your old self  because you have to improve and your improvement should be based on all the unique characteristics of your existing business and the skills sets that you have.

You don’t win this race by being the best restaurant, No! You might win by being the best operator of a restaurant.

Food is preference, you have to realize that. I like my rice a bit hard, you like yours soft. I like to have a place where I can watch TV whereas the other person wants to eat in a calm noise free zone. So, there are so many things that you can pick as your edge and you can focus on that than you worrying about what the next person is doing.



Key Takeaway Points:
  • Carve a niche and build a brand that cannot  be compared with other brands
  • Focus more on building a solid brand rather than care about competition in the industry
  • Do not try to do the exact same thing the next person is doing as your own advantages may be different
  • There are so many things that you can pick as your edge and you can focus on that than you worrying about what the next person is doing
  • You don’t win this race by being the best restaurant, No! You might win by being the best operator of a restaurant
  • I think when you are in this business you have no competition; you can say you have colleagues you can learn from
  • When you copy, you may never understand the process or the reasoning decisions behind that business strategy or model
  • When you compete, what you end up doing may be overlooking your own advantage by trying to acquire new strategies that may not be within your strength or you may not even understand.

 

 

Emeka is passionate about the Evolving Business Environment and the challenges bedevilling it. He is ardent and cognizant with the Restaurant Industry having worked in various outfits as a manager and consultant. He is presently working for BusinessFeverNg as the B.D.M and content editor.
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Emeka is passionate about the Evolving Business Environment and the challenges bedevilling it. He is ardent and cognizant with the Restaurant Industry having worked in various outfits as a manager and consultant. He is presently working for BusinessFeverNg as the B.D.M and content editor.
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Emeka is passionate about the Evolving Business Environment and the challenges bedevilling it. He is ardent and cognizant with the Restaurant Industry having worked in various outfits as a manager and consultant. He is presently working for BusinessFeverNg as the B.D.M and content editor.

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