Competition Good for Small Businesses

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Great to see Becky here! She's such a strong advocate for and critical thinker about small businesses. I've known her online and enjoyed her articles on her blog for over a year, and have had the pleasure of meeting her in real life as well.
Another great post from someone who's practicing what she is preaching and helping a lot of people along the way.

Michelle Riggen-Ransom of RI 7:18PM January 29, 2009

Great advice, Becky! It's always tough to embrace competition, but I think all businesses benefit in the long run. Without competition, it's easy to be lazy -- and that's never a good thing.
Having competition forces us to hone and communicate our value proposition and unique selling points. In addition, there are often opportunities to collaborate with potential competitors. This is especially important for small businesses as the economies of scale bring new opportunities for ourselves and greater value for our clients and customers.

Daria Steigman of DC 4:22PM January 29, 2009

I agree about the ways in which so-called competition can increase awareness. It also increases the opportunities for joint ventures and referrals.
Take the CPA business, for example. There's way too much for any one individual to know, so there are tons of specialty areas to pursue. For the past 12 years or so, I've been keeping in touch with several colleagues who I met at one of my continuing professional education classes.
We each focus on different areas and have been able to refer clients to each other on a pretty regular basis. And we've become friends in the process.

Sheryl Schuff, CPA of IN 3:22PM January 29, 2009

I still say that the owner of a liquor store in a small town is not someone you should be looking to for "advice". You should be asking yourself how many job losses, accidents, rages, beatings and incarcerations this woman has caused by peddling liquor to her neighbors while pretending to be "respectable".

Muser of 10:45AM January 29, 2009