When you go to a networking meeting that has competitors in the room, how do you feel? Are you worried? Do you feel threatened?
Well you shouldn’t be!
Some networking groups promote the members benefit of being the only business in the room that fits a particular category. e.g. the sole graphic designer, the sole architect. But let’s be honest, how beneficial is that for your business?
I run an internet consultancy but rarely do I find two consultancies that do exactly the same thing, and I think it’s the similar case for most businesses. In fact, I often do business with competitors because I find there are gaps that we both fill for each other. One internet consultancy may be limited to large websites, another may be focused on low value websites, another may be focused on web programming but isn’t interested in design.
So when meeting competitors, remember (a) your skills might actually overlap (b) you can learn a lot from each other. e.g. new technologies, marketing techniques.
But there’s another benefit. Having competition keeps you on your toes and forces you to think about how to differentiate yourself from others. It’s very easy to slip into your comfort zone and assume you’ve cornered the market. If you you’re the only internet consultant in the room, you start assuming that people will automatically bring their business your way. But no one has any obligation to use you. If you’re lousy, your networking group will simply take their business elsewhere.
But having competitors in the room is also beneficial for the other group members. For example, there may be three IT support members in the group but one may only serve North London, another will be more comfortable serving South London, and another may specialise in supporting Apple Macs. In another scenario, a member’s client may have an urgent requirement that only one supplier can fulfill.
And then there is the personality factor. Different suppliers have different styles, and you need to ensure that the two suit each other.
It’s true that a networking meeting where half the people in the room do the same thing isn’t much use. But if there’s two or three people in the same profession? Bring it on!
