Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Letters. I bet we'll get letters about this month's leadfeature, "Get in the Ring". Granted, our call to crushyour competition could be construed as a bit too harsh for some,but before you judge us, consider the adage, "When the goinggets tough, the tough get going."
So, in these uncertain economic times, it's time to gettough and get going. But before you get up from your desk andscream at your employees, "Things are going to change aroundhere!" remember that tough is not mean. Contrary to what somepeople think, running a business does not give you the license tobe nasty. I've heard too many use "it's business"as an excuse for behavior that borders on the unethical andunacceptable. Just because it's business doesn't give youthe right to be a son of a bitch.
And that's not what contributing writer Geoff Williams issuggesting in the article. Instead, you need to re-examine what youdo and how you do it and compare that to your competition'spractices. Figure out what they do better than you and why. Andthen adjust accordingly. And immediately.
These are not ordinary times. If you don't set out to crushyour competitors, you're leaving yourself wide open to bedestroyed by them. To paraphrase golf legend Tiger Woods talkingabout his fellow golfers on the tour: It's a competition.Friendship goes out the window when we get to the first tee.
In other words, it's kill or be killed.
Of course, there are some competitors you can'teliminate-they're just too entrenched in the market. If youfind yourself in that situation, whether you're just startingout or trying to grow your company, you'll find plenty of solidadvice in "Push andShove". One of the keys to success today is, as theauthors of a forthcoming book from Entrepreneur Press put it,"niche and grow rich." Discovering the unexploited gap inthe market is like finding the proverbial pot of gold.
Like much of what we do, it's a fine line we walk whendealing with competitive matters. But walk it we must. After all,as General George Patton once said: "Opportunities do not cometo those who wait. They are captured by those who attack."
