What? Using other businesses for inspiration? Shouldn’t you find it difficult to take inspiration or even advice from businesses in your market that you’re competing with? Well, perhaps theres’ a point to be made there. That said, the wise man learns from those around him, and in this sense, any business leader that fails to view the market and its players is effectively ‘playing blind.’
But how can you use other businesses as your inspiration without directly copying them? What does ‘inspiraiton’ mean in this context to begin with? And more than that, how can it apply to your business now, not in an ephemeral sense. After all, you can read all of the most excellent books on leadership that you want, but if you’re not willing to embody those ideals or at least try them out, you may have wasted your time.
So, let’s consider how you might like to use businesses as your inspiration. In the following advice, we hope you can look beyond your borders and find something appropriate and new.
Consider Their Reputational Management
Consider how a business curates its reputation management. It’s very hard for a firm to not lose public grace at one point or another. For instance, think of perhaps one of the biggest video game companies in the world, CD Projekt Red. Even those who have little insight into the games industry have heard of this game, based on how audacious and effectual its marketing had been. Keanu Reeves had pride of place as one of the main motion-capped characters within it, and that led people to feel even more excitement for it. The company has since been blessed by those who appreciate the industry thanks to their second project, GOG, a company that sells titles without any stringent copyright protection, basically trusting the consumer to a full purchase after sale.
However, it’s been made apparent that there were many false promises and exaggerations prior to the release of this product, to the point where investors are now filing lawsuit against what they claim to be repeatedly misleading claims. To put it simply, the mighty have fell out of favor. What will be interesting is to see how they claw this consumer trust back. Will they? Many firms have done it before. From goodwill efforts to investing in what really matters and what customers need over what will draw as many of them in at once, firms have certainly rebuilt their reputations in the past and continue to do so. Maybe you could learn from this effort, too?
Inspired By The Service You Receive
It can be quite worthwhile to stay inspired by the service you receive. For instance, investing in high-quality outsource SEO services and thus curating your best marketing strategy can help you see just how an effective, streamlined, totally transparent service operates. Perhaps you wish to emulate those values going forward, developing a stronger sense of what you have to offer and just why people should care about you doing that. If you can follow that effort, you’ll no doubt find that people are extremely receptive to it. It might seem a little out-there at first, but over time, people will truly see the structural changes you are making, serving clients and consumers first and foremost. This gets noticed.
Research Into Other Businesses
Researching into other businesses is important, if only to know what the market players are doing at any one time. This is true of even the most dominant market forces. It’s very clear that Apple definitely keep a close watch on BlackBerry, for instance, despite the latter being nowhere near a threat to them and their market domination right now. It’s best to know who the other players in the field are, and to feel appreciative of their presence. After all, it’s competition that keeps you focused, sharp, ready, and interested.
It can also be that they are encountering market forces and situations that you, too, might have to encounter one day. Collating this information, and learning from the firms around you (no matter if they succeed or fail) is essential.
Look Abroad
Looking abroad can also be a great means of understanding how various marketing shifts and forces dictate the flow of business. Different legislation, perhaps stricter or freer, can help you realize just how firms have reacted to the recent coronavirus push for instances, as different countries have applied different methods to retain the spread of the virus and to support businesses.
So, this might be one of those times where collecting this data or just being aware of it can be important. Looking abroad can also help you consider how markets might function there. Who knows? You might even spot an opportunity. At the very least, you’ll be much less inclined to take these narratives for granted, instead considering how you, too, can make the most of them going forward.
Look Into History
Of course, business life is hardly something that started in 2021. We can look upon years of collected data, case studies, challenges, catastrophic failures, meteoric rises to success, and some of the best leadership in your industry you can look back on with pride.
Understanding that can often help you feel more connected, more interested, more open, more willing, and more appreciative of the fact that you aren’t unique, and that many of the situations that you’re focusing on have been experienced before. Perhaps you’ll get insight from these, or a bold new strategy, or at least the comforting knowledge that business challenges are absolutely nothing new. It really does make a difference to know this in the long run, especially if you’re something of a new player on the scene.
At the very least, having a few personal idols or heroes you keep in mind can be very helpful when moving forward and trying to learn more about your own place in the market.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily use other businesses as your inspiration.
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