So, I have very good reason to believe that the owner of one of my big "competitors" bought some clippies from me. Now, competitor is in quotation marks because from my perspective we're not really in competition. I sell on etsy and have been doing it for 6 months. My "competitor" has their own site, has been doing it for a couple years, is in stores across the country and probably sells 20 times (or more) the merchandise I do.
I tried to think of the reasons.
Possibility 1: She likes my clippies since they are a bit different then hers and wants to use them on her daughter?
Nope. For the same reason Sweetpea will never have anything in her hair that is not made by me. If someone asks about Sweetpea's clippie, I will tell them to check out Hazel's Zippy Clippies. (link is on the left hand side). Definitely not the reason.
Possibility 2: She wants to copy me?
Not likely. She has a good product and has no reason to copy mine. Besides, anyone with a basic knowledge of how to make hairclips can figure out how mine are made even if it takes practice to do it well. She definitely has a basic knowledge.
Possiblility 3: She thinks I am copying her?
Maybe. But, the idea of making hairclips isn't really that original. So, why buy mine when there are hundreds of other people on the internet making them? Besides, even if I was copying her (which I'm not), she doesn't have a patent on anything so she can't do anything about it.
Possibility 4: Scoping out the competition?
Maybe. But again, it comes back to the why, and remember, I'm little, she's big. There are TONNES of little people selling clippies on the internet.
Regardless of the reason, the thing I keep coming back to is: why would she bother? I'm small potatoes. And she is definitely a big potato. Having said that, she is a very smart business woman and a marketing genius. So, perhaps she does have a reason.
Ultimately, regardless of her reason, I have concluded one thing:
Either I'm bigger potatoes then I think I am, or more likely, she thinks I'm bigger potatoes then I am.
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4 comments:
You'll always be big potatoes to me, big sister! Hopefully she hasn't got anything sinister up her sleeve...
I think it's possibility #2! I'm curious how you figured out who she was? Did she try to hide who she was? Or was she quite open?
I love you guys!
She tried to hide who she was actually, but there were a couple things that gave it away. I'm not going to post how I figured it out publicly, but I'll tell you in person or if you really want to know sooner, you can send me a message and I'll tell you.
As a business owner myself I would say that she is scoping out the competition. Imitation is the highest form of flattery.
Although in my business there are others that have been in business longer than me, but I have a unique and better service (IMO), but that doesn't mean that an idea that *I* implement at my centre doesn't show up months later at my competitor.
The mommy business is a very different kind, you always have to be innovative and on the ball, with good advertising, because you constantly have to re introduce yourself to the market.
Keep that in mind, let her see your products, but keep your eye on her! ;P
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