I'm competitive. Anyone else?
I'll just go ahead and admit that I want to be the best at everything I put my hand to. When I started my home bakery 8 years ago (side note...EIGHT?? that flew by!) I would rarely buy other bakeries products, and if I did, it was more to scope out competition and confirm to myself that I made better products. I know, how awful is that! I'm cringing just reading that.
But, the past year or so I've been intentionally trying to change my mindset about running a baking business and listening to a lot of podcasts (one of my favorites is The Product Boss-go listen to it here!) and one of the things the ladies are constantly saying is "There's room at the top for everyone".
That really stuck with me. I realized that as small businesses, we REALLY need to work together and not against each other, because we ALL have something to offer to our customers. It's NOT a competition, because what I offer is unique to me and what you offer is unique to you. No one can get cakes and macarons like mine because what makes them special is ME, they came from my creative mind. And the same goes for anything you may be selling as a small business-YOU are what makes your product special.
Also, for me, I realized that there's a lot of stuff that I'm NOT the best at, and I'm not meant to be either. I was at a bakery the other day and got some sugar cookies, and they were INCREDIBLE! Now, I could go and try to be as good at sugar cookies as I am at macarons, OR, I could just celebrate that this lady is awesome at what she does and point people in her direction when they need sugar cookies!
As I think about this, this is really applicable in a lot of areas in our lives. When we are competitive (about anything-career, school, how much you can deadlift...sorry, I like to workout lol) we are focusing on ourselves rather than serving others. It's a constant feeling of grabbing for what we think we "deserve".
But there's a different way! My ultimate goal in my business is to serve customers, and if they need sugar cookies like in my example above, then I'm going to recommend they visit her instead of trying to be great at sugar cookies so I can make a sale. If we focus on celebrating other's success and helping others (coworkers, classmates) on their journey, I believe we will find success as well. Because, as the lovely ladies on Product Boss say: There's room at the top for everyone.
If you find yourself wanting some of what I'm good at, check out my macarons and cakes HERE.
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