Tips For Small Business Owners Part Four: How To Handle Creeping Competitors

By Toni Hetrick

I’ve spent considerable time deciding whether or not to write this post.   This topic arises frequently in different social media groups that I belong to, and from what I see, the stances vary.  Initially, when I see someone’s post they describe the way in which they’ve been approached and then ask for advice on how to answer/handle such situations.  I’ll take this opportunity to voice my opinion for what it’s worth, and offer you the reader, the opportunity to open conversation on the topic in the comments below. 

First I’ll provide an example so that you know for sure what I’m speaking of.  Imagine that you are a crafter.  Your specialty is anything vinyl (t-shirts, signs, decals, etc).  When you decided to begin your business, you spent a significant amount of time researching all the avenues of the business.  You have money invested in equipment and merchandise and have learned from your own successes and failures.  Yes, you viewed hundreds of hours of youtube tutorials, but you performed those searches on your own, you didn’t simply ask someone, “hey how do you do this?”  Now imagine you are approached by someone and they blatantly tell you they want to start a business doing the same exact things you do, and they want to know your secrets.  Let’s say you are set up at an event, and that person picks up item after item asking, “Where did you get your blanks; where do you purchase your vinyl; where did you find this image?”  At what point is this person no longer simply curious of your trade?  At what point do you seal up like a vault?  What do you say to someone in this situation?

Here are my thoughts.  I am all for helping people out.  I would eventually like to do tutorials on different items that I feel I’m very confident in creating, to provide assistance to people at the beginner level.  HOWEVER….. I have worked so very hard to get where I am, that I also find myself feeling defensive at a certain point.  Just like in the example above, I’ve spent thousands of dollars on supplies and equipment in addition to hundreds of hours of research.   I’m not going to just hand over all my information.  To the people who feel it’s acceptable to approach a stranger or even an acquaintance and tell them that you basically want to copy what they do, have a little respect. 

I also understand that the crafting world has experienced a bit of an explosion over the last few years.  Especially with the popularity of tools such as the circuit and silhouette, so many people have begun making their own items and in turn starting their own businesses.  I salute you all and LOVE shopping from small businesses.  Because of this surge in crafting, each and every one of us has to keep up to date on what’s popular and adjust accordingly.  There will always be competition and I’m fine with this.  But if you are trying to compete with another business, please stand out on your own.  Take the initiative to do some research on your own.  Perhaps the techniques that I use to make something, work great for me, but not for you.  Again everyone is different, but I want my company to stand out and be as unique as possible.

Now for what I consider one of the most difficult tasks, how do you respond to such questions?  Personally, I try to stay cordial with everyone.  I don’t want to argue with someone if I don’t have to.  Frankly, who needs extra stress in their life?  Insert the famous, “Ain’t nobody got time for that” quote.  I prefer for people to only associate good interactions with my business.  For me, I would keep my response minimal and perhaps a bit cheeky?  If someone asks where I get my merchandise or blanks, I may say something like, “I purchase from several companies.  If you do a little digging you can find decent companies to buy from in bulk.”  I feel that was short, somewhat informative and yet I didn’t provide info on where I actually get my merchandise.  As far as the techniques used to make something, again vague responses would be my method.  “As far as technique, it really varies on what I’m making and how I want it to look.”  Hopefully, the spy catches your drift and realizes they aren’t going to get much info from you.  I suppose if that person persisted in attempting to interrogate I would just have to politely yet sternly let them know how hard I’ve worked that I can’t share that information, they’ll have to do the research on their own. I mean Colonel Sanders recipe is still a secret after all these years, right?

I understand this post may not have been incredibly insightful, however I’m hoping it helps provide confidence to like minded individuals that you aren’t alone.  The next time you find yourself in this situation, perhaps you’ll remember this post and feel more comfortable with the interaction.  As always, thank you for visiting the website.  Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.  If you liked this post please click on the heart to show some love. 

Tips For Small Business Owners Part Two: Greeting & Communication

By Toni Hetrick

In the last blog post, I covered some helpful tips to make you look like a pro at vendor events.  I hope you enjoyed it. If you missed that post, you can find it here.  While writing that particular post, I felt like I could go on for a while with one specific topic.  I then decided to make a separate post for that topic alone, to provide more detail as I feel it’s been a prevalent part of my business growth.  What I’d like to discuss further is greeting and communicating with your potential customers.

This is a small setup for my Frugal Fashionista, however this was our first time attending Wine Down Weekend in Huntingon, PA. Next year will be much bigger.

In the event that you are new to my page, I’d like to give you a little background on myself.   I am Toni Hetrick, aka The Frugal Fashionista. I have had my own business for close to 14 years.  I do not have a brick and mortar storefront. The majority of my years in business, my sales have been, from what I refer to as “vendor events”.  These are small local events, most often held at churches, community centers, fairgrounds, convention centers, etc. I wish I would have kept count over the years as to how many I’ve attended but unfortunately, I didn’t. 

I would, however, consider myself a seasoned veteran of such events. I have attended SO many, and have taken away a great deal of knowledge and observations. Over the years my business has grown to now include a website, social media accounts, and a blog, all while continuing to attend vendor events.  Not that this is a detailed background, but I feel a little better sharing that with you so that I have less chances of someone saying, “who does this lady think she is???”, and “how does she know???”. 

Now onto the topic at hand…..  I have found that simply greeting an approaching customer and finishing with a smile makes a world of difference.  For the longest time, I didn’t want to jump on a customer as soon as they approached my area, fearing that I would make them uncomfortable and they wouldn’t want to stop at my booth.  I’m sure many of you have encountered a very pushy salesperson at one point or another. You might as well spray some sort of repellent on me with those tactics. Nope, nope, nope! Instead, I found that there are people who are comfortable asking questions and then there are people who aren’t.  You just need to create a friendly environment where people know they won’t be attacked.

 I experimented at one event where it seemed to be a common thread that people were just milling around.  Not really shopping. I decided to try to talk to every person that passed my table in a non-aggressive way.  I would say, “Hello, how are you today”. From this, people would look up, make eye contact and usually respond with, “Fine and you?”  My response was usually, “I’m great. Let me know if you have any questions”. I’m pretty sure the conversation could not be any more simplistic.  This approach made a significant difference. I greeted them, but also allowed them to not be bothered and pressured into purchasing something. I could not believe the number of people that then stopped, looked at my merchandise and continued to carry on a conversation.  

I felt as though I had discovered magical powers.  In just a few seconds’ time, I was able to make a person feel comfortable and relaxed enough to stick around for a while.  Even if they don’t purchase anything you now have the opportunity to introduce yourself, your company and everything that you offer.  This is huge! Marketing is expensive, so why not do as much as you can with words and in-person interaction for FREE?? I believe that this impression lasts longer than a Facebook Ad that you scroll past, wondering how in the world that got into your feed.  A greeting costs nothing. You have nothing to lose but perhaps an awkward moment once in a while when someone doesn’t respond to your greeting. Perhaps give this 10-second tactic a try at your next event and let me know what you experience. As always thank you for visiting the blog.  Comment below if you would be interested in more blog posting such as this one, with helpful tips for a new business.