Many small time businessmen feels it is not wise to keep a good relationship with their competitor. They fear revealing too much about their business secrets to them. Keep in mind that, in a small retail business like a hardware store, there are not many secrets that you can keep. The only secret is maybe your selling price of your goods reason being your competitor might undercut you. That is not such a big secret. If they want to know how much you are selling a certain item all they have to do is to get someone to go to your shop and find out for them. Since there is no secrets to be kept, why not keep a cordial relation with your competitors, especially those who practises good business ecthics.
Benefits of Being Friends with your Competitor
Keeping a friendly relationship rather than making an enemy out of your competitor brings more benefit than harm. First and foremost, both of you can make a pact never to undercut each other’s prices. Compete on a same level and both of you will benefit. When a new product hits the market, discuss with your competitor about the selling price and agree on a standard price so both of you can gain maximum advantage from the new product.
Compliment each other. You might have ran out of stock on certain items. Your competitor friend can supplement you temporary with the items that you are short of and you will not loose any sales. You might make a lower profit this way but it is definitely better than no profit at all and more importantly, your customers will be happy.
Join forces to tackle bigger competitors. If there is a big order that you feel you are not financially strong to handle alone, you can team up to satisfy the order. Both of you will benefit. You may have to reject the order without your competitor’s help.
If you maintain a good relation with all your competitors, you can really compliment each other in business. So there is no point keeping a distance from your competitors. Some more successful ones might even offer you tips on how to improve your business. They will let you know which item sells better and which doesn’t. They can introduce new suppliers to you.
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