Thursday, August 19, 2010

Blow Your Competition Out Of The Water

"Instead of focusing on the competition, focus on making the competition irrelevant."
 --Kim & Mauborgne, Blue Ocean Strategy

I've been reading a book called Blue Ocean Strategy, and it is changing the way we do business at iVi Scents. The premise of the book states that in order to move from a red ocean packed with bloody competition to a blue ocean that is calm and completely void of competition, you must do the following:

A prime example of this is Cirque Du Soleil. Circuses were losing money do to a lack of interest among children, heightened animal rights awareness, and all of the associated expenses of feeding, taming, and transporting these animals.  But the founder of Cirque Du Soleil, added value and cut costs in all the right places.

This is so amazing to me, because this is what I have tried to do in my business from day one.  I don't care what other bath and body companies are doing, offering, or selling.  My competition is irrelevant because they don't do what we do.


iVi Scents is unique in that we offer scents, quality, and style that other companies cannot do or are unwilling to do.  Before iVi Scents, there existed just two marketplaces in the bath and body realm: 1) Function void of style, and 2) style void of function.  iVi Scents is the junction of both worlds, a place where function and style merge and play nice together.
 
I believe this is why our customers and fans are so loyal to us.  We are meeting needs and desires that no other company is willing to.  We try to listen to our customers' feedback.  We value what the say and take everything to heart. iVi Scents is a company built from the ground up with the customer in mind.  I don't understand how big companies lose sight of this: Their customer base is the single determining factor that allowed them to become big in the first place. I often wonder why so many of them refuse to care about us anymore?

How can you make your competition irrelevant? What value can you add that other companies can't or are unwilling to add?  What costs can you cut that other companies have ignored?  Create your own circus and leave the clowns in the dust!

Aarin Elizabeth is the founder of iVi Scents | Nontoxic Bath and Body
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