Run Your Own Race.

Dear entrepreneur,

This things take time and conscious efforts.

Last weekend I had an interesting conversation with a friend who is into event management and he gave me a break down of his ordeals, struggles and challenges that come with running a business.

While I sat down listening to him attentively and gulping down my soft drink, deep down in my heart I could relate so much with what he was saying as an entrepreneur also.

He complained on and on about how clients don't want to trust smaller event companies with their events thereby giving newbies a chance to prove themselves.

At that point a thought dropped and I asked him this question; so who are your target clients trusting with their jobs?

And he went on to mention a number of brands in his industry to which I asked again; so how long have these companies been in business?

He answered by saying some have been in business for 7 years upwards, some longer than a decade too.

My friend on the other hand has only been in the event space for only 2 years. This is where I see a lot of entrepreneurs make the mistake of comparing and competing with much bigger brands that have paid their dues, stood the test of times, stood the storms of business, failed, went down, bounced back rather than looking inward to see how you can carve YOUR own niche, build market base and consistently improve to serve a bigger market. For instance there's been an influx of a number of soft drinks into the market but none of these companies can compete head to head with Coca cola , but they'll have to find their OWN market space and dominate there.

Like someone said;

If you don't have a competitive advantage then don't compete. So dear entrepreneur, find your small niche, deliver consistent VALUE that meets their needs and expand from there rather than competing for market share in a market you didn't create.