Let’s be honest - competition anxiety is a real freaking thing and it certainly isn’t
the best feeling. Etsy alone has over 2 million sellers - and so whether you sell on the platform
or another one or on your own website - it’s easy to look at this and think “there’s
too much competition - I will never make it.” “Too many people sell jewelry.” “Too
many people sell home decor.” “Too many people sell *insert your product type here*.”
Once you get caught up in these thoughts,. it’s easy to feel crushed by it - to feel
intimidated, and at times even a bit jealous.
So… how can you manage these thoughts so you can get OUT of competition paralysis,
avoid getting stuck in an anxious cycle, and grow your handmade business instead?
That’s what today’s video is about - I am going to show you why managing your thoughts
around your competition is so important and share 7 tips with you to help you do so - let’s
dive in!
Bonjour, my name is Deb and I’m the founder of Tizzit.co, a membership community for handmade
shop owners and makers, just like your fabulous self! Today I want to chat about what is
a sore point for many sellers… your competition.
Now… there are two types of handmade business owners and handmade sellers out there when
it comes to thinking about your competition. The first group is going to look at the competition
and feel fired up by it and think “THAT’S AMAZING. If they're so successful, then I
can be too.” They use it as something to inspire them, to motivate them.
And then there’s the second group... which I'm assuming if you're watching this video
is probably you. And to be honest, that's the majority of people anyway. And if that is you
then you probably feel overwhelmed by the competition…
...you might just be getting started and looking at how many sellers are selling similar products
to yours and you're thinking “I've got no chance of succeeding at this there's so many
people doing it already. No one is going to find me. I am not good enough. My niche is
is too crowded"... yadi yadi yada. All these thoughts are making you probably
feel overwhelmed, stressed and maybe even anxious - which is no way to live your life
OR to grow a successful handmade business.
So, unfortunately... I can't get rid of your competition for you - sorry! But I do want
to give you some tips to help you manage those thoughts which is SOOO important so that you
can feel better but also because the majority of the success that you're going
to create within your shop will come from you, and from you getting out of your own
way. Success is created in your head. Competition
overwhelm and analyzing your competition too much to the point where it makes you feel
paralyzed, is one of the obstacles that you have to move past in order to create space
in your brain to actually grow your business, instead of obsessing over what other people
are doing.
It’s also not going away unless you work on it, starting now. If you think that this
feeling will go away when you start making sales or become “successful” yourself…don’t.
Because... truth bomb, that’s not the case. As you grow, your thoughts around this will
change - and you might not exactly think “I can’t make it" if you are making
sales but you will find something else to compare yourself against - and you will just
keep raising the bar for who you look up to, who’s doing it better, who’s getting more
views, more sales. The problem will shift from: “I can’t make it, there’s too
much competition” to “why is this person more successful than me?”
Ok - enough said about why this is important, let’s dive into the 7 tips I’ve
got for you:
Number 1, and you've maybe heard that before, is that competition is a healthy sign. If
there are people selling products similar to yours successfully it's because there are
people buying them. If there was no one else selling products similar to yours - it would
be a red flag more than anything. More often than not it’s the sign that there are no
buyers - whereas if you can see other successful sellers in your niche? Well, that means there’s
a pie you can get a slice of! *It's raining now so I'm sorry if you can hear that*
Number 2: it’s not a fair comparison to look at people who are a year, three years, even five or
more years ahead of you ...not because they grew so quickly they’re 5 years ahead magically...
but because they've literally started earlier than you. You can’t look at the results
they're getting today thinking “I want this next month”. That's not fair.
That's not fair for them and that's not fair for you because when you do this you're putting
such high expectations on yourself that of course you're going to be disappointed if
you don't reach them. So when you find yourself doing that - remember that everyone is on
their own timeline in this beautiful life we get to live, and that you shouldn’t compare
your beginning to someone else’s middle (or whatever that super famous saying says).
Number 3: it’s not a fair comparison to look at people who have different resources than you
do.
What I mean by that is that sometimes you look at someone that you know started
at a similar time to you. And they sell maybe something similar to you.
And they are taking off a little bit quicker than you are, and you start doubting yourself
because you're thinking “well, me and Donna started at the same time but she's making
more sales than I am”. And the reality is that you might have started at the same time,
but Donna maybe doesn't have kids and you have three, maybe Donna doesn't have a dog that
she has to walk twice a day and you have 2. Maybe she doesn't have a full time job,
or a part-time job, or a long commute, or any of the responsibilities that you might have.
Everyone has a different amount of time to spend on building a business and it doesn’t
make sense to compare yourself to someone that’s dealing with a different set of circumstances.
This isn’t a race. Don’t try to somehow fit 50h into one day.
You’re doing the best you can with what you have, and you will make it work - on your
own time which is always the perfect time. Donna and you may also have a different skillset
- maybe she was a Social Media Manager before she started her shop, or a photographer - so
when you took a little while to learn those skills she was able to move forward quicker
- but that doesn’t mean she won’t plateau or that you won’t catch up with her - and most importantly
it doesn’t matter! Because, and that’s tip number 3, you need to ask yourself: IS THIS
USEFUL?
Where your attention goes your energy goes - what does comparing yourself to others really
achieve for your shop? Is it useful?
A little bit of market research from time to time is healthy and necessary, but the
only person you need to be competing against is yourself.
Am I making progress? Have I learned something new?
Am I getting more traffic? Am I getting more sales? And not “ Am I
getting more sales than DONNA?" but "am I making progress, compared to where I was last
month or last year, or last week?". Every minute you spend thinking about your
competition is not useful - it’s time you're not spending growing your business, and so
you're essentially furthering that gap between you and them - because they're not looking
at what you're doing. They're busy working on growing their shop. They’re not worried
about you - so don’t worry about them.
Tip number 5 is: what you see is not the full picture.
Someone who’s making hundreds of sales each month - behind the scenes, can be absolutely
unhappy.
I say that most importantly for those of you guys who are selling on Etsy: you are
looking at other shops and you see they have more sales and they have maybe lower prices
than you do, so your brain goes “must decreases prices” to compete... and... that is never
the solution because someone putting a price on a product on Etsy doesn't mean that
this price includes profit and that they’re rolling in gold behind the scenes. Same with
social media: you can’t take followers to the bank, and some accounts with lots of
followers don't actually get many sales from it.
So, in short, don’t go creating glamourised stories about what someone else’s business
might be like just to make yourself feel bad - what you see is never the full picture so
stay focused on your own journey.
Number 6 is a very practical tip and it is to NICHE DOWN.
More often than not, when we think about the competition and we get overwhelmed, we're
thinking about it in such a broad way that yes of course it feels overwhelming because
we’re looking at way too big of a product category.
For example, if you sell jewelry, you might be thinking "oh my God there are so many people
already selling jewelry - why would anyone care about my products?" - but jewelry is
just like this gigantic category. Underneath that umbrella of “jewelry,” there are
so many different styles, techniques, materials being used,
and on top of that different sense of style and aesthetics because every designer has
a unique perspective. Are you selling recycled and sustainably sourced gold wedding bands?
Are you making polymer clay succulents and plant pendants? Are you making boho-inspired
leather bracelets? You get my point. Instead of thinking “I’m competing with everyone
on the planet making handmade jewelry”, niche down - and create a smaller market within
this bigger one for yourself. Niching down reduces the size of the group of people you're
competing with - it essentially gets rids of thousands of competitors instantly. Winning!
Finally, my last tip is… stop looking at
your competition. Seriously, stop it. If you're following your competitors on social
media, I want you to right now, go and unfollow them. You don’t need to see what they’re
up to ALL THE TIME. You can always go and check on what they're doing from time to time
when you're doing market research, but I don't want you every day or every week to have that
in front of you when you don't need to see it. Because what ends up happening is that
you're constantly comparing yourself, and you start making decisions in your own business
that are biased by what you've seen someone else do, and you're starting to think, "oh
my God, they're doing that so maybe I should do that too." That is no way to run your
business. You are you, you have a very specific skillset, that's unique to you, a very special
and unique set of talents and gifts. And I don't mean that just in terms of the products
you create, as in your craft itself, but also when it comes to the way you manage your business,
in the marketing decisions that you're going to make, in your copy in your marketing content -
all of this good stuff is going to be different because you're a different person. and you
need to tap into YOU and WHO you really are and how YOU want to do things so that you
can grow your business in a sustainable way. What worked for someone might not work for
you so don’t let it influence you.
So my friend. Yes, there are other people selling similar products to you online. That's
true. They're never gonna go away. The quicker you learn to manage those thoughts the quicker
you can get back to focusing on what’s most important: your progress and your success.
I know you’re capable, I know you have what it takes - so please stop doubting yourself.
You are as capable and worthy of success as anyone else.
I will link below this video to extra resources I’ve got for you to help
you start and grow a successful handmade business, including a free resource library just for
shop owners I really recommend you check out!
Thanks for watching and until next time - aurevoir!