Running a business can be extremely rewarding. It can also be frustrating. There will be times when everything runs smoothly, and times when everything seems to go wrong. The one thing that can be accurately relied on in business is that things change and that you need to keep up with what is going on within the market to ensure that you don’t get left behind. 

This is even more true when it comes to your competition. You may think there is none for your particular niche, but something important to remember is that there will always be competition, no matter what you do. Even if your business is unique, there will be another business that is similar enough to cause potential issues when it comes to getting ahead of the competition. And even if you really can’t find any true competition, that doesn’t mean you can become complacent; instead, you will need to keep a constant watch in case – or rather, when – another similar business arrives on the scene. 

When this happens, or if you already know that you have competition, you will need to work on differentiating yourself to ensure that you continue to grow and thrive and ideally manage to at least get on a level footing with your competition, if not get ahead of them entirely. Here are some ways it can be done. 

Use Yourself 

Sometimes there will be a distinct personality behind a business. If you are the owner, and you are the person that customers deal with and see the most – the person who is, in effect, the company itself – then this is what you need to work on. This is what will make you entirely different from everyone else. After all, there can’t be two of you, which you can use in your marketing and in your attempts to show that you are unique. 

Take an objective view of yourself and your role in the business. Could it be bigger? Smaller? How could you change it so that your personality shines through? There might be an interesting story about how you set up the business and what made you decide to do it, for example. Perhaps it is your vast knowledge of the sector and your products and services. Maybe it is the passion that you bring to the business that makes you stand out. You will bring a specific value to the business, and it is this that you need to discover if you want to work on it. 

Eventually there will come a time when you may wish to step back from the day-to-day running of the business, and this can sometimes be an issue when it was your personality and skills that made people come to you in the first place. In this case, you will need to ensure that your employees can emulate your systems and processes as much as possible and, of course, you can be on hand as a consultant if need be so that customers still feel that they are getting the personal service they have come to expect. 

Be Transparent 

If your business is completely transparent in the way that it works, and everyone prides themselves on their honesty at all times, it will not only make you stand out, but it will be an incredible selling point for you. Customers will find it refreshing to be able to understand the process behind every decision and to be involved where possible. 

It is also a good idea to let customers in on the ‘behind the scenes’ of areas that they wouldn’t normally have access to. You can create an audio tour of your office area, write a blog about why you’ve chosen a specific events company for chair rentals, or make a film to put on your website that shows customers how you do what you do. This kind of unprecedented access can really make a difference, engaging customers in a new way and promoting your business to a much wider audience. 

Innovative Marketing 

If you can use your marketing, which needs to be done anyway if you want your business to be noticed, to really differentiate yourself, you will be able to make more of your marketing budget. You can stand out completely by using innovative marketing, even if your products and services are the same as someone else’s (or many other people’s). This is because a clever marketing campaign is something that people will remember, so it is your company that they will go to first because your name will be foremost in their minds. 

If you’re not sure how to go about marketing in a clever, innovative way, it’s best to contact a professional to help you. You don’t want to launch a campaign that doesn’t work, as this will be a waste of money or even put people off using you altogether if the tone isn’t right.