Your competitors aren’t your only competition

Ask any business owner who their competitors are, and they’ll reel off a list of similar companies. Marketing agencies mention other agencies or freelancers. IT support firms list other tech companies. Business coaches name other consultants.

But that’s not all the competition they face. And it’s not the whole of your competition either.

I’d hazard a guess that your competition falls into 3 fairly specific areas:

1. Companies or freelancers that do the same as, or similar to, you
2. Alternatives to hiring any professional – DIY solutions, internal handling, free advice, software tool
3. Something you’ve not even thought about

And if you’re not fighting options 2) and 3) in your marketing (whether that’s your SEO, social media, sales bumph, website, newsletters, or anything else you use to promote your business) then you’re more than likely missing a trick

I’m not going to tell you how to compete with your direct competitors – I’m pretty sure you’re not an idiot, but the other two areas often require a little more thought.

Competitor #2 -problem solutions that seem to “cost less”

Whatever business you’re in, your real competition isn’t just other service providers. It’s every alternative your prospects consider when they have a problem you could solve.

Take marketing agencies. Yes, you’re competing against other agencies. But you’re also competing against:

• Hiring an internal marketing manager instead
• Using DIY tools like Canva and Mailchimp
• Getting the boss’s nephew to “handle the social media”
• Doing nothing and hoping word-of-mouth is enough
• Throwing money at Google Ads and crossing fingers

For IT support companies, the competition includes:

• That “tech-savvy” person in accounts who “knows computers”
• YouTube tutorials and Google searches
• Ignoring IT problems until they become disasters
• Buying new equipment instead of fixing what’s broken
• Praying nothing goes wrong during that important presentation

Business coaches compete against:

• Self-help books and podcasts
• “Learning on the job” and figuring it out alone
• Asking successful friends for free advice
• Staying stuck because change feels too risky
• Convincing themselves they don’t really need help

But the biggest competition for most B2B service businesses isn’t a variation on one of the things I’ve mentioned above. It’s your target market of potential clients doing nothing at all.

Why “doing nothing” beats you every bloody time

How often have you had a discovery call with a potential client, things have gone swimmingly, everything seems like a fit, and then they just do… nothing.

Or you’ve had a 1:1, given them loads of awesome ideas, sent a couple of reminders that you can help with the things they can’t do themselves, and… nothing.

The easy option? Yep. The lazy option? I’d hazard a guess at no.

Your prospects aren’t lazy. They’re terrified.

Decision paralysis is real

Too many options means no decision at all. It’s easier to stick with the broken system they know than choose between 407 different solutions they don’t understand.

Fear of making the wrong choice

This feels safer than making any choice. Better the devil you know than the professional who might mess things up worse, right?

Budget anxiety

Money worry doesn’t help either. Sarah from marketing is already on the payroll – hiring you sounds expensive in comparison.

Past trauma

That marketing agency three years ago promised the world and delivered a website that looked like it was built in 1997 and the enquiry for never worked? Once bitten, twice shy.

The comfort of familiar problems

This is always weirdly reassuring. At least they know exactly how their current mess works, even if the ‘workaround’ takes 5 times as long as doing it properly. New solutions bring unknown complications.

So they do nothing. And nothing wins again.

The hidden cost of “doing nothing”

While your prospects congratulate themselves on saving money by not hiring you, they’re haemorrhaging cash in ways they don’t even notice.

That accountant they didn’t hire? Sarah from marketing just spent three weeks figuring out corporation tax that a qualified professional would sort in three hours. At Sarah’s salary, that’s probably cost more than hiring an accountant to do the job.

The IT support they passed on? When their systems get hacked and it causes downtime and bad publicity, the cost of lost business makes your monthly retainer look like pocket change.

The web designer they decided against? Their DIY website is losing customers daily while they congratulate themselves on that £5,000 “saving.”

Why this matters for your marketing strategy

Understanding your real competition opens up opportunities across all your marketing – but you need different approaches for different alternatives.

For your SEO and blog content

Target the “other alternatives” – the DIY solutions, internal options, and free advice your prospects are actively searching for.

While other marketing agencies target “marketing agency Birmingham,” you could be creating content around “hire marketing manager vs marketing agency” or “should we hire a marketing manager.”

Copywriters obsessing over “copywriter Ipswich” miss searches like “why is our website not converting” and “hire copywriter or do it ourselves.”

IT support firms targeting “managed IT services” could dominate “do I need IT support for small business” and “outsource IT or hire internal searches.”

These searches have lower competition and higher conversion potential because you’re addressing real decision-making processes.

For your social media and newsletters,

Focus on the “doing nothing” crowd – the prospects who aren’t actively searching because they’re stuck in paralysis.

Create content that makes the cost of inaction impossible to ignore:

“This business owner saved £5,000 by not hiring an accountant. Then HMRC fined them £15,000 for the mistake they made.”

“While you’re ‘thinking about’ updating your website, your competitor just stole three customers with theirs.”

“The IT problem you’re ignoring? It’s about to cost you more than five years of professional support.”

This split approach works well because people actively searching for alternatives are ready to make a decision. People doing nothing need a wake-up call first. Your SEO catches the searchers, your social content creates the searchers.

Stop competing in a vacuum

Your prospects aren’t just choosing between you and other service providers. They’re weighing up doing nothing, trying DIY solutions, or finding completely different approaches to their problems.

Start creating content that addresses these real alternatives. Position yourself against the full range of options prospects consider.

Because when you finally understand who you’re really fighting – Sarah from marketing, the boss’s nephew, and the default setting of doing bugger all – you can stop losing battles you didn’t even know you were in.

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