Cruz-Busto: Copycat

Saturday, January 29, 2011

IN MY disgust a few days ago, I vented my ire and posted on my Facebook (FB) wall: "you know you've arrived when people literally copy your business, even those you thought are your friends." Being the most popular social networking site among people today, a number of my FB friends sent their comments, too.

My FB friends sympathized with me and their views were varied. One implied that I should probably take it in stride as "imitation is the highest form of flattery."

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Another said, as if trying to appease me, that I will be more blessed than the copycat while others just gave me their thumbs up or liked what I wrote on my FB wall. Of course, I kind of expected that they would ask and bug me who the culprit was.

I know that, I, or anybody for that matter, do not have the monopoly to a particular business. The more the merrier. In fact competition is encouraged so that businesses will strive for quality.

For over two years, I, together with my sister, have been into organic health and wellness products and we have become a regular in one of the more established bazaars here in Manila. I must admit though that business is good. In fact, the sales we get from our business help tremendously in the upkeep of our mother's medical needs.

In short, a lot of my and my sister's friends know we are into said business for over two years now. My friends and a number of colleagues in the service are aware of this business endeavor. And most of them are actually impressed and amazed that I could still manage to do business on the side despite our 24/7 job. I just tell them it is just a matter of time management, which I believe I am very good at. Also, we have established a steady clientele who would just text us for their orders.

So where does the copycat come in? I have this colleague in the service who I noticed in the last quarter of 2010 kept coming back and forth to our bazaars to probably see how our business was doing and she would ask a lot of questions, too. Little did I know that she would use all the information she gathered to jumpstart her business with her friends.

Just this month, this friend has taken exactly the same business as mine. Not only that, she also called me a few days ago, asking me if she could sell the same stuff in my area and turf. What am I supposed to tell her? I told her it was alright because she was not actually seeking my permission but was sort of just telling me as a matter of "courtesy". But if she had the delicadeza and sensitivity, she would not do that. I have been very helpful to her in terms of advices and ideas when she would always indulge in different businesses.

This supposed friend of mine has had strings of businesses but does not stay long in one because she would easily outgrow it. Whatever sells big, she ventures into that and just hops from one business endeavor to another.

Perhaps my biggest edge from her is that when I sell our products, I do not overprice. Just enough for us to earn our much needed extra income for our mother, even if my customers can very well afford to pay more.

Also, I wanted our customers, especially those who have become interested in our products, to be able to re-sell our products that are still within the standard retail price (SRP). That way, they could earn extra without any need on their part to shell out huge/large amount of money.

While it would be nice to earn more in this kind of sideline, I do not just go for money, money and money. The reason probably why our business still thrives because we follow the way the Chinese people do business--even if there is little profit from what you sell, as long as a lot of people are buying, that would still translate to big sales.

That should guide anybody out to do business. For a business to survive, it does not only mean solely profit but knowing how the system works, what you are passionate about to really focus on it and not just indulge in it just because you see it is making money. There is more than meets the eye.

Most of all, sustain friendships by supporting each other and not outdoing one another. Let friendships matter even in business dealings. After all, it should be love, love and love.