There is an alternative to all that effort people put in doing what everyone else is doing. Why do people this and how can it be stopped?
And How to keep it Original
Let’s face it, we live in a copycat “me too” culture, or as some like to call it, copy “baste” culture. Though we know of entrepreneurs filled with original ideas and the hopes to try them out, the rest just do what others have previously done, and as a result, not last for long. It’s simple, original ideas last, grow, and dominate any competition.
One more XX shop
It all started with satellite antenna shops. That’s as far as I can remember. Right after that, came the mobile phone and accessory shops, tailors, ‘Abaya’ shops, lady saloons, cupcakes, burgers, mens saloons, T-shirt shops, nail spas, yogurt shops, and now healthy food shops. I can’t imagine what’s next.
Following trends can be sometimes be worth doing. It’s low-risk, has low barriers of entry, and requires little to no innovation. Trends have the power of creating new industries, from scratch. The downsides are numerous. Not following the trend early enough can have a negative impact on your business and two, the diminishing need for innovation when everyone ends up doing the same thing, over and over.
Either way, we need to think about why businesses entered the markets they’re in, in the first place.
A problem and a solution
Businesses are solutions. Before starting a business, one must think of what problem is proposed business going to solve. Once a problem has been defined, a solution can be crafted. At some point, Skype, the video and audio call software, threatened the airline industry as it left less of a need to communicate with another person by having to travel. Skype threatened one of the solutions airlines were successfully solving. Being able to identify a problem and propose a solution is what separates an entrepreneur from a copycat.
“Businesses are solutions. Before starting a business, one must think of what problem is proposed business going to solve.”
Now, what is another burger shop solving? It’s certainly not hunger, we hardly have any starving people. The starving can’t afford burgers either way. We have an abundance of food supply. What specific problems can a burger shop target to distinguish itself from the competition? How about a diet burger shop that obviously aims to target the weight loss industry, or a practical burger shop, one that caters to the needs of businessmen that need a ‘quick bite’ before heading to the office. Once a problem has been defined, a market starts to expose itself to you.
“Now, what is another burger shop solving? It’s certainly not hunger, we hardly have any starving people. The starving can’t afford burgers either way.”
Don’t get me started with names!
Copycats don’t stop at copying product categories, they copy brand names too. Dozens upon dozens of businesses, for example, employ the ‘iXYZ’ naming convention; iSpa, iSport, iEat, iWhatever! Following this long-dead trend is not only overdone, it’s also not sustainable for your business. Other name convention trends have risen over the past few years, not to mention using Arabic letters, characters, names, or nouns or using two-digit numbers to have an easily memorable catchy name for your business.
I think entrepreneurs can and should put some more effort when naming their businesses. A name is not just a string of letters that may appear on some sign board. It’s all that your business represent. A good name can be what makes or breaks your business.
Let’s put Lampposts!
Well, not that lamp post advertising isn’t good for business, I just think we could do better by identifying who we’re trying to reach out to before raising up our lamp post banners on the streets. The problem is the same, one business’s success with lamp post banners is a reason for everyone else to do the same. “Copy Baste” businesses copy both, ideas and tactics.
We could also do better in the appealing to our clients instead of shoving things in their faces department. Look at bulk messaging. It’s incredibly efficient, not as costly as it once was in the past, perhaps unethical, but gets the eyes of thousands. People don’t like it, including myself. It harms your brand when you utilize bulk messaging to reach your customers.
Define your audience, understand how best to reach them, perhaps an email would work better than handwritten notes? How about your tone? Would a formal or informal tone work best? You don’t want to sound too friendly, or too snobby perhaps. You definitely don’t want to sound cheap either. These things matter, take them seriously.
“We could also do better in the appealing to our clients instead of shoving things in their faces department.”
This also applies to your business’s presence on social media. Which social network would work best? Being on every social network might not help your cause any better than being on the wrong medium. Figure out who you’re trying to reach, and reach them where they are present the most.
P.S.
It’s always easier to blame everyone around you, the market, your competitors, or those who set the regulations for whatever rut you’re in. That’s counter-effective, instead, find a solution that works for you and adapt to the changes before it’s too late.
