Competition vs Customers

It has been a while…

COVID-19 ripped through my life most likely very similar to what it did for yours: It went from 💩 to 😝 to 😱 to… you get the picture (or emoji)?

Now let’s resume (somewhat) regular programming.

The amazing Kevin Kelly recently turned 68. In best KK fashion he posted a list of 68 bits of unsolicited advice.

Pretty much in the middle you will find this:

You can obsess about serving your customers/audience/clients, or you can obsess about beating the competition. Both work, but of the two, obsessing about your customers will take you further.

I have been thinking about this a lot recently. It is clearly not the first time I heard this — and if memory serves me well, you will find a very old post of mine in the archive which bestows the same advice. And I believe it is truer today than it was BC (before COVID-19).

In times like these, where many of us struggle with the very reality of making sure our business doesn’t collapse, the only person who will safe you, is your customer. Nobody else. So — fixate on her and you’ll be fine.

And forget the competition. You don’t win the race by looking over your shoulder. You win by running.

P.S.: While I was absent here, we were busy at be radical. We created a free online course which teaches you our favorite futurist tool in 30 minutes — it’s a great way to learn something new while being stuck at home. Click to check it out!

This post is part of the “The Heretic”, Pascal Finette’s insights into leadership in exponential times. For entrepreneurs, corporate irritants and change makers. Raw, unfiltered and opinionated — delivered straight to your inbox. You will like it. → https://theheretic.org