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 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*” – and 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!
There are two types of handmade business owners and handmade sellers out there when it comes to thinking about 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” and 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, 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 are so many people doing it already. No one is going to find me. I am not good enough. My nice is is too crowded.” Yadi yadi yada.
All these thoughts are making you feel probably overwhelmed, stressed, and maybe even anxious – which is no way to live your life OR to grow a successful handmade business.
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 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. And 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” anymore 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 I think about why this is important, let’s dive into the 7 tips I’ve got for you:
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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’s no buyer – 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 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 and think: “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.
What I mean by that is that sometimes you look at someone that you know started at a similar time to you.
Maybe they even sell something similar to you.
And maybe 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 may not have any 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 50 hours 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 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 – and most importantly, it doesn’t matter! Because, and that’s tip #3, you need to ask yourself: IS THIS 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.
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.
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 that are looking at other shops and see they have more sales and they have maybe lower prices than you do. 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 glamourized 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 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 a gigantic category. Underneath that umbrella of “jewelry,” there are many different styles, techniques, materials being used, and on top of that a 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” create a smaller market within this bigger one. 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. 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 doing, and you’re starting to think: “oh my God they’re doing that so maybe I should do that too”. And that is no way to run your business.
You are you, you have a very specific skill set 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. 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.
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