You shouldn't copy competitors in business!

[CTO114]

Most upcoming brands make the same mistake early on. They study a competitor who is doing well, and instead of asking why it works, they ask how to do the same thing. New logos, new pricing tiers, new tone of voice, almost a copy of what is already out there.
It feels safe because the competitor has already proved the model works. But it also means the brand is now fighting for the same attention, using the same visual language, telling the same story everyone is telling.

The brands that actually last did the opposite. Liquid Death did not try to look like a healthier, greener version of Evian or Fiji. It looked nothing like water at all, it looked like an energy drink or something dangerous, skull graphics and all.
That decision alone puked it out of the bottled water aisle entirely and out it in s category of its own. It is now valued at over a billion dollars, not because the water is different, but because nobody else in that shelf looked, sounded or behaved like it.

Dove did something similar from a different angle. In 2004 most beauty brands were still running the same playbook; flawless models, retouched skin, the same aspirational imagery repeated fir decades. Dove ran a global study and found that only 2 percent of women worldwide described themselves as beautiful. So instead of running the same ads with a softer tagline, they dropped the professional models entirely and used real women, unretouched. It became one of the most talked about campaigns in advertising history, and it built a following that felt personally connected to what the brand stood for, not just what it sold.

Neither brand won by copying the market leader. They won by building something the market did not already have a name for, some that's quite unique, whether big or small, and then letting their audience decide it belonged to them too. That is the part most brands skip. A logo or a colour palette is easy to copy. A culture that people want to be part of is not.

If your brand is trying to outdo a competitor feature for feature, you might want to step back and ask yourself, "what would this brand look like if that competitor did not exist at all?"

[Sim_card]

Copy cats wouldn't have any innovation in their head because everything wasn't their idea but the idea of brand that they copied and that's why you see that they find it difficult to outshine the real product that they copied from because it wouldn't have that uniqueness. A brand should look for a unique way to connect customers to their products and impact that emotional feelinga in the customer for the product.

[goldkingcoiner]

Following a successful competitor can be a good idea, especially if you are a newcomer in the world of business and have no idea what you are doing. But once you have established yourself and your business, you should not be following in the steps of others but rather creating your own path forward. The reason is very simple: What can be good for one businessman/businesswoman, does not mean it will be good for someone else who is trying to emulate them.

The most successful businesses come from originality, not copycatting someone.

[Bluedrem]

If a person can use his creativity to think differently than others, then his chances of success increase. Be it in business or anything else. Yes, I have also seen many businessmen who try to imitate other brands, to be honest, this is also striking to me, and at the same time, I have also seen that businessmen cannot achieve much success.
But there are some businessmen who, when they start running their business with new ideas and thinking innovatively, eventually they go a long way in business.

[gracreavix]

That's harsh. Your statement topic. If they are competitors, it means they are doing something right. Instead of saying you won't copy them, why no learn from them. Pretty sure they have done somethings right. So why not learn the good once from them and disregard the once that are not good. That's much better. Learning what works and don't work is actually better. I wouldn't not throw away my competitors, I'll learn from them.

[PostQuantumBTC]

It is not possible that you will be in business with competitors and you will not copy them. Unless you invented the business will be only when you will not copy.

Those businesses that you are seeing, they are copying each other. Many of them can even know themselves, doing meetings and have price regulation just for their progress in the community.

But only what you can say is that you should make your business better than the others. If you do not copy them, you may not get it right.

[Rruchi man]

Most upcoming brands make the same mistake early on. They study a competitor who is doing well, and instead of asking why it works, they ask how to do the same thing. New logos, new pricing tiers, new tone of voice, almost a copy of what is already out there.
It feels safe because the competitor has already proved the model works. But it also means the brand is now fighting for the same attention, using the same visual language, telling the same story everyone is telling.

It is only business people who are not innovative that always want to copy others' businesses and do exactly what they're doing and not do something different. This goes to say that innovations are not very easy to come by, and only businesses who have creative individuals in their thinking seat can constantly be innovative. Businesses that are being copied will always be ahead because these businesses that are copied are innovative. And one thing about innovative businesses is that they're always very dynamic with ideas; the idea that is being copied by another business today can be modified tomorrow to be better. Thus, such businesses will always be ahead of other businesses, and they are not in competition with them.

Innovative businesses are in competition with other innovative businesses, not businesses that copy them.

[Iroh]

Getting some pointers on how/what an already successful business does in order to thrive doesn't hurt. As a small and growing business, it's important you should create a niche for yourself and not having to copy in detail, what some other business you think is doing well does.

People generally do value authenticity in a small and growing business. You certainly cannot afford to be lax compared to an already established business. Instead of looking to snd copying how your competitor does things, it would pay better to be innovative. Study and know your clientele, their likes and preferences then how to go about providing your service in a way that is efficient and comfortable for all parties involved.

[aoluain]

Most upcoming brands make the same mistake early on. They study a competitor who is doing well, and instead of asking why it works, they ask how to do the same thing. New logos, new pricing tiers, new tone of voice, almost a copy of what is already out there.
It feels safe because the competitor has already proved the model works. But it also means the brand is now fighting for the same attention, using the same visual language, telling the same story everyone is telling.

The brands that actually last did the opposite. Liquid Death did not try to look like a healthier, greener version of Evian or Fiji. It looked nothing like water at all, it looked like an energy drink or something dangerous, skull graphics and all.
That decision alone puked it out of the bottled water aisle entirely and out it in s category of its own. It is now valued at over a billion dollars, not because the water is different, but because nobody else in that shelf looked, sounded or behaved like it.

I would say few new business start up just to simply "do the same thing" as their competitors.
The emphasis is always on either "we can do that too but with a better approach" or "with added
benefits" or "we can enhance it".

Look at Liquid Death, essentially they are doing the same thing as Evian - selling water - but targeted
at a different demographic of people, this creates competition.

In most areas there is room for competition, look at the energy drinks market, you would think
Red Bull had dominated the market? but nope there is room for many others.

It really comes down to marketing.

[Alonso_]

I think you have to do what is best for business, if you feel that you have to do something similar to what your competitors are doing, then you just have to do what you have to do to make your business successful, perhaps if you have different ideas entirely that can also make your business better than your competitors then I think you have to do it, because if you don’t do it then your competitors would be doing better than you’re doing.

You can get some ideas from people who are doing the same business, I think it’s going to work perfectly for you when you do the right things in your business, and looking in the direction of your competitors are totally not a horrible idea.

[Donk1]

Well I think the issue isn't about competitors or not. I think the issue is that most people just jump into a business with no idea whatsoever. Basically they lack the mindset of creativity, so instead of making a product different, they end up making similar products with the same satisfaction and a look alike packaging. At the end of the day, their products end up looking like an alternative or a cheap type of someone else's, which would probably make people just judge the commodity at first glance as being fake.​I think every businessman or woman should have a motive in creating a product something that would be better than, not less than. Yes there is always competition in the market, but when you create a product that outweighs your competitor's own, it no longer becomes a competition because you have surpassed them by offering something they couldn't or lack. That's all......

[348Judah]

You can learn from those that are doing better than you in a business by trying to improve your standard to their own and even better than what they are offering, you don't have to directly plagiarize on what other does, but use your own initiative to build on constructive ideas that is quite different and better than what they are offering already, it's possible competition should take place in situation whereby you discover there is an improvement required in what you are doing, and this is what stand out any business Enterprise among its competitors when you determine to improve more better than others.

[Hypnotizer]

Most upcoming brands make the same mistake early on. They study a competitor who is doing well, and instead of asking why it works, they ask how to do the same thing. New logos, new pricing tiers, new tone of voice, almost a copy of what is already out there.
It feels safe because the competitor has already proved the model works. But it also means the brand is now fighting for the same attention, using the same visual language, telling the same story everyone is telling.

That is just lack of Creativity in display, before you start a brand or business you ought to look at your competitors who are doing well and learn from their strategies and practices but that doesn’t mean you should become a Copycat of their business model rather you should apply what you’ve learnt and creatively develop your own brand in such a way that will be better than theirs.

No matter how much the model proves to have worked, you’re supposed to improve it and give a better value if you want to succeed in the market with fellow competitors.

-snip

This examples further proves my point, you should study the successful model and use creativity to develop something that works from what you’ve learnt.

[danherbias07]

But it doesn't it won't be better than the copied item.

There are so many different brands with the same item, and yet they are still bought by consumers. Some don't even have a brand, and there are still buyers coming in. It's because they have better quality or they are cheaper than the same brand.
What if you just have an idea of upgrading the brand that is already in the market because the company that owns it still cannot think of the idea that you have? Will you still not continue with your plan to upgrade? It will be a waste of an idea.

[Rockstarguy]

If your brand is trying to outdo a competitor feature for feature, you might want to step back and ask yourself, "what would this brand look like if that competitor did not exist at all?"

A brand can be inspiration for another brand, and in business, there is nothing wrong with imitation. I don't mean trying to copy exactly so that you won't be able to recognize it. But I think a brand can inspire me to come out with my own brand, trying to make it similar to the one that inspires me. However, this inspiration is not enough to sustain a brand. Even if a brand inspires one to start their own, at least there should be an understanding of how a brand works. It is easy to copy or imitate a brand, but if you don't have that understanding of what makes a brand work, it is very possible for the brand to fall along the line.

[abhiseshakana]

I think on these information openess era, sometime observing and learning from our competitor is a must, we can study from their peice, product design, maketing startegy, SOP even from their mistake, it is very normal, even now many influencer review, analyze, and inform a successfull company secret based on their competence. And on there fatst changing market those benchmarking is the most rational for a business survival.

We can not 100% copy and paste other successfull business to our business, no two businesses are 100% identical, because every business owner has its own resources, mission, obstacle, consumer and execution skill and ability. So my suggestion copy for learning do not put copying to become the same.

Based on my own experiences as business owner we must focus on our business not follow other to avoid competitive convergence which end with price war.  For me my competitor is a mirror not my business compass. what I should learn are other successfull company strategy not their journey.

[Princess Leah]

Copy cats wouldn't have any innovation in their head because everything wasn't their idea but the idea of brand that they copied and that's why you see that they find it difficult to outshine the real product that they copied from because it wouldn't have that uniqueness. A brand should look for a unique way to connect customers to their products and impact that emotional feelinga in the customer for the product.

Customers who value quality would always go for the original products and not something replica which is why people should come up with their own business ideas to attract customers instead of copying ideas from other business owners. That's why brands like Apple, Samsung and Nike are outstanding because they're unique.

 Their uniqueness has made them built years of trust with their customers that even if someone tries to create something replica it would be tough to compete cause customers have already gained trust with the original product and won't want to patronize something similar they don't trust but it would be easier to get their attention when something different and unique is created, so instead of replicating and being under the shadow of the original it's better to compete with something different and unique.

[Die_empty]

If your brand is trying to outdo a competitor feature for feature, you might want to step back and ask yourself, "what would this brand look like if that competitor did not exist at all?"

Brands can copy models from competitors, but it is essential to be creative and innovative. They shouldn't just copy and paste models without adding something new. Many brands have become successful by following the path of key industry players, but they gained market share by offering something new or different.

Most successful businesses have a niche they fill to gain customers confidence. Innovation is not always complex; it could be as simple as adding free home delivery services for your customers.

[Rockson1]

Similarity does not make a product original, there's secret attached to every product which is what makes such product unique, and that is the reason it will be difficult for copy cats to outshine the original product, there is no need to copy any business idea, I think someone who wants to go into business must have his own ideas, if as a starter you do not have your ideas from scratch, excelling in such business will be a problem, no matter what, do not try to copy products, because it can never be the same with the original one, which is what cripples businesses sometimes.

In business, you do what you know how to do, everything should be your idea but motivation can come from existing businesses, but a with concept that is yours.

[rachael9385]

The reason why a lot of people find it difficult to succeed in business is because they aren't really solving a problem that others haven't already offered a solution to. Doing the same thing as others only puts you in a spot for competition and it is not good for business. Finding a something that's in high demand and little supply is very important and this is what Makes you stand out, trying to copy others only makes you go backwards. Creativity pays a lot, people are attracted to authenticity and not something that is common or what others are already doing.