Every March, millions of Americans gather around TVs, frantically check scores every 5 minutes, and bet their pride and wagers against friends and complete strangers. And so it goes around the globe for the World Cup, the Olympics, the Super Bowl, and countless other sports championships. It’s the healthy dose of adrenaline, conquest, and pride that spurs us on and boils our blood.
A little bit of healthy competition can also do wonders to spur for your business. Efficiency experts agree it can increase productivity and motivation. Managers use competition to set and achieve hard, measurable targets that help with logistics, reaching higher profits, and budgeting. And entrepreneurs compete with themselves to survive the first year crunch and grow their businesses.
Competition can also drive traffic to your location or help with your marketing. For example, Gold Medal is located in Cincinnati, OH, home to numerous friendly rivalries between local colleges and universities, high school football teams, Gold Star vs. Skyline Chilis, and even the sides of town. And in this town, pride is serious and big money business.
Businesses splash their names on T-shirts, cups, posters, and advertisements promoting games. Concession stands and vendors offer tasty fun foods in school or team colors of every shade and will sell out before half time. It’s about knowing your customers and, in this case, how proud fans take their loyalty seriously and spend the extra cash to showcase their devotion and competitive streaks.
Successful businesses take competition seriously and know they need to be the ones others think of first to get the sale. That’s why it pays to be the early bird and forget the worm. Eat the competition for breakfast.
