Competition is a necessity in life!
You have all the right to be concerned in an environment or setting where there seem to be no competition, that place is as good as the desert.

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Competition can be a good indicator when an entrepreneur is probing what business to venture into, it shows the profitability of the business. However, competition can end you up in a great mess. My close friend once texted "If only that new restaurant didn't open two blocks away, I'd be on my way opening a second branch"

Paul, my close friend used to run a local restaurant in a not so popular street in Lagos. It was the first restaurant of that kind serving special and foreign dishes. He was building a good reputation until a well known Nigerian Restaurant opened their new branch close to him. Paul couldn't compete successfully with the new restaurant's professionalism and established reputation. Though, Paul still had customers, the income wasn't enough to sustain operation.

My friend's mistake is solely based on the fact that he never spied on the competition. He kept doing the old things he knew well, not caring to find out what else, apart from their reputation was drawing customers towards his competitors.

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Spying on competition isn't a new phenomenon. World powers and warriors have always sent spies to get informations about places they want to conquer. They send spies to investigate what their enemies are cooking up: This was and is a norm. They would go as far as investing so much in recruiting and training spies in the art of acquiring the right informations.

The government and the business world operate in similar ways. The government is a political business.

After a year of folding up, Paul got all the answers to his questions. He discovered all the stuff his competition was doing right that he wasn't. First, the competition were actively marketing their services and dishes online. They put effort into creating attractive images of dishes which they posted on their social media accounts and website. They also post dates when special discount will be available, as well as dates special dishes will be served. The interior of the restaurant was artistically designed, customers come in to take pictures they could post on their social media- this in itself was a form of marketing as pictures uploaded by customers drew more people to the restaurant. The restaurant dishware were mostly customized. They offered free mints after meals and you could play games on the machine which is set up at a corner of the restaurant. The list is endless.

Now, my friend has a bakery in Ibadan, Nigeria. He is doing pretty well because he not only spies on his competitors, he regularly update his knowledge to know what other bakers are doing all over the world. Paul is always up-to-date on his field.

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Spying is vital and ethical, see it this way: If you weren't competing, you'd be partners rubbing minds.

But, there are forms of spying which are not healthy. There was a time in Nigeria in which private schools business was the vogue. Parents were withdrawing their kids in order to start their own private schools. The downside was that they did their research, mainly by stealing from other schools. They go into different schools pretending to be new and potential clients. They'd ask the school management to give them a tour around the school. They'd say "We want to ascertain your school is conducive"

Spying in pretence of being a client within a business setting is unethical. Imagine your competitors are being interviewed someday and were asked what they think of you and your business- they would definitely have bad things to say. When competing, always have the mindset that your competition could someday be a source of client or business referral. Or you could someday work on a project together.

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Knowing all the importance of spying, what are the healthy ways of spying, and what should you be spying on?

Social Media and Blogs: You need to follow your competition on their social media accounts. If they are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram- you need to be a follower so as to get updates. You need to sign up for e-mail news letter too. Visit their official website regularly. Study the response of the support team to customer's problems.

What people are saying: You need to track what people are saying about your competition and their products. You need to study the advices and feedback customers are giving. Study their strength and weaknesses, the customer's complains- know the mistakes of your competition and avoid it.

Campaign materials: Study their method of advertising, the graphics or pictures they use, the localities they target and the method of publicity. The marketing technique they employ can tell you a lot and help you have an edge.

Popularity: You need to track how much likes and followers they have on social media and the region from which majority of them are from. Check the products and post with the most like. Look for the places they have low popularity and know the reasons why.

I hope you've learnt a lot. Don't apply the technique of spying into business alone, it's something that can be applied in all areas of life. The last advice I'd give is for you to know your limit and when not to push further. Thank you!

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Image Source:

Declaimer: All images used in this article were gotten from Pixabay and under the public domain.

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References:

For further studying, visit the following sites:

Survicate.com: How to spy on competition
Ethics in Business: How Spying on and Copying Competitors can Backfire and Harm Your Brand

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Oluwole Damilola is a Physiologist, Crypto Blogger, Digital Marketer, Business Enthusiast and Homesteader. He's a professional content creator and editor. Hobbies include writing, singing, playing sport and learning foreign languages.

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