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Most owners don't think about the cost of competition. I'll show you, and help you remove that problem.
1
At least 3 people are making the buying decision, and you're only talking to one.
2
The most valuable customer you'll ever have is making the decision months or years before you ever hear from them.
3
There are at least 10 successful businesses within 10 miles of you who have your customers and don't compete with you. They wish they knew you.
Most owners never see these. Your competitors don't either.
It only takes a few minutes for a life-changing aha moment.
What makes it all work is The Science of New Demand: what makes people want your products and services.
Seven questions you've never heard before. Think Tank business intelligence and primary and secondary research into what your best buyers want most. The result: demand and distinctions your competitors don't even know exist. Not "quality," "open 24/7," "best prices" or "same-day service," but what actually makes you exceptional: a category of one.
What competing is really costing you
You are very good at what you do and still would like to earn more good customers/clients to work with and pay you.
Some customers get to discover how exceptional your work is and how well you deliver - but you wish those who bid you down could realize what they're missing.
You've looked at a competitor's website to decide what to put on yours.
Copying their services list, their photos, their “Why choose us.”
You introduce yourself with your industry label.
“I'm in HVAC.” “I'm a financial advisor.” “I'm a business coach.”
You say your difference is quality, great service or fair prices.
“Quality work at a fair price.” “We treat you like family.”
You've asked “What are others charging?” before setting your price.
Pricing off the competition instead of off your value.
You've dropped your price to win a bid.
“We can match that.” “Let me sharpen my pencil.”
You've added a service because the leader offers it.
Free estimates, a membership plan or a guarantee, because everyone has one.
You've answered “What makes you different?” with something a competitor could say too.
“We've been in business 20 years.” “We're licensed and insured.”
You made your site so close to others you could just change the logo and use their site and it's mostly the same stuff.
Those aren't separate problems. Competition is the root of almost all of them, and you're likely creating it. The good news: you can stop.
A note from Nate
I LOVE people, and I see how hard they work to build successful businesses. Then I see the competition problem, and it's absolutely unnecessary. I found a way to remove it altogether, by discovering where your competitors can't even come close to what you bring to the table.
It's about being exceptionally caring, and then asking some really powerful questions. I promise you'll be amazed at how special you can become in the minds and hearts of your best buyers. It changes the whole story.
— Nate
You know that feeling when someone asks what you do, and they say, "Oh, my cousin does that"?
You know how special your business is, and you can prove it. But others may never give you the chance, because they've already decided they know what you do.
That's what competing feels like. You're creating it, and you can stop.
Every industry benchmarks itself against itself. We study the leader, match the price, copy the bundle and repeat the same promises. Then we wonder why customers shop on price.
That's competition culture, and it's expensive. Margins shrink, marketing costs climb, and the business machines grind.
You can choose not to compete.
"Imagine everyone who does what you do moved 1,000 miles away, and everyone who needed your services had no option but you. What would happen to your business?"
We can't make them leave. But we can stop you from creating them.
Everyone else competed on:
Price per gallon and service
They won on:
Kids' safety workshops for the moms who choose the fuel company
How they won:
Grocery-chain sponsors put 100,000+ flyers in shoppers' bags promoting kids' outdoor-safety workshops, and service sign-ups surged within a week.
Nearly doubled revenue in three years
Everyone else competed on:
Tax savings, bookkeeping services, quality, great fees
They won on:
A Financial Confidence Map that gave owners real relief from worry, and a monthly membership program
How they won:
Owners stopped comparing bookkeeping prices and started buying peace of mind, every month.
More than tripled, then sold
Everyone else competed on:
Chasing electrical projects for builders
They won on:
Solving ice dam problems in gated communities, a category of its own
How they won:
Built an ice-dam monitoring and melting system and took it where no one else was solving the problem.
Over $1 million in sales in under nine months
John Miles, President, Putnam Fuel
Stopped competing on oil and service price. Child-safety workshops helped nearly double revenue in three years.
Darrell Johnson, Ice Dam Shield
Stopped chasing electrical projects for builders and became a new, high-demand category: solving ice dam problems in gated communities. No competition, and over $1 million in sales in under nine months.
Hady Makhmalbaf, CEO, MTZ Engineering Group
From an erratic $17–25K a month to a steady $50–60K within seven months by saying NO to the wrong projects and to competing on price ever again.
"The Unnecessary Cost of Competition Culture: How Every Business Creates Its Competitors, and How to Stop."
Now booking workshops and talks for early 2027.
You'll find it both shocking and refreshing.
