Competitor-Based Decisions

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 You are listening to the Grow Your Local Business Podcast, where local marketing expert

spk_0 and life coach Leslie Pressnell shares the strategies and the mindset to help you reach

spk_0 more people in your city and bring in a steady stream of clients.

spk_0 Alright, let's dive in!

spk_0 Hey, welcome to episode 137.

spk_0 Today I want to talk about your competitors.

spk_0 The more importantly, the decisions you make in your business based on your competitors.

spk_0 Like, the decisions that are keeping you stuck, keeping you playing small, keeping you

spk_0 invisible, maybe with you not even really realizing it.

spk_0 So if you are a local business owner and you are, if you're here, but chances are high

spk_0 that there are other people in your city doing the same thing as you or doing something

spk_0 close to it and if not, one day there might be, which is why this conversation matters today.

spk_0 I have been talking to several of my students inside the local Prenure Academy lately,

spk_0 or people on consults or even in my DMs or in emails and it's getting brought up a lot

spk_0 about competitors or other people in your industry doing what you're doing or maybe

spk_0 even someone copying what you're doing.

spk_0 And I know if I'm hearing it from other people that there are a lot more of you who are

spk_0 really struggling with this.

spk_0 So today I want to show you some of the very specific competitor-based decisions that

spk_0 may be holding you back.

spk_0 I really have noticed some patterns and I see us making decisions based on our competitors

spk_0 in four main areas.

spk_0 And I want to walk you through each one just so you can check in and see if you're doing

spk_0 this in your own business.

spk_0 So number one, the first area we make decisions based on our competitors is with our content

spk_0 and with our ideas.

spk_0 So what this commonly looks like is we end up pulling back in our marketing.

spk_0 We withhold in our social media post or we stop posting certain things.

spk_0 We stop sharing as much because we don't want our competitor to see certain things that

spk_0 they could take or they could copy.

spk_0 We feel like we're giving too much away and we don't want them to take our ideas.

spk_0 So that could look like not sharing client wins because we don't want them to know who

spk_0 are working with or avoiding posting certain topics like any sort of educating or any kind

spk_0 of intellectual property because you don't want your competitor to copy it and share it

spk_0 as their own or even like sharing behind the scenes content.

spk_0 You don't want your competitor to know how your business is run or how you do what you

spk_0 do.

spk_0 So what happens is we end up not connecting with our audience like not showing up as frequently

spk_0 not showing up as the expert all out of fear that our competitor will take it from us.

spk_0 So inside the local Prenary Academy, I have this tool called the local client filter and

spk_0 the idea is it helps my students create and make decisions in their business based on

spk_0 their best clients.

spk_0 And really this is just a signal that we're not focused on our best clients.

spk_0 We're not focused on our clients at all when we're in this situation.

spk_0 We're focused on our competitor.

spk_0 And here's the actual truth here.

spk_0 If your competitor means post ideas, if they need information, if they need ideas, if

spk_0 they need educational content, they're just going to go get it from somewhere else.

spk_0 So you might as well just keep posting and sharing with your audience because when

spk_0 you pull back, they're not pulling back.

spk_0 They're going to keep posting.

spk_0 They're going to keep connecting with your people.

spk_0 And we want you to be the loudest voice that your people hear, the one they see the

spk_0 most.

spk_0 I started my business, my first local business in 2010.

spk_0 Over the years, I have had ideas, events, products, intellectual property, all borrowed

spk_0 from me.

spk_0 And my thought process is, first off, we're human.

spk_0 Like we get to have a human reaction to that.

spk_0 I'm not going to sit here and say it feels like rainbows and daisies.

spk_0 It does not.

spk_0 You get to have human emotions.

spk_0 But here's what I also know.

spk_0 I have the identity as a thought leader, as an expert, as that local go to person.

spk_0 And this is what I teach my students to develop inside the localpreneur Academy.

spk_0 And when you have this self image or this identity and you truly see yourself as a thought

spk_0 leader, you know that you're always just going to have better ideas.

spk_0 You're always just going to be on to the next thing, the next day, the next week.

spk_0 If someone took a content idea, fine, like I'll be on to another one, a better one,

spk_0 but tomorrow.

spk_0 If someone ripped off an event I was doing, which has happened multiple times, great.

spk_0 I'm going to plan an even bigger and better one.

spk_0 You have to see yourself like that, like an idea factory, as someone who's never going to run

spk_0 out of ideas.

spk_0 When you believe that about yourself, you won't fear sharing things.

spk_0 You won't fear showing up because you know what you're sharing is not your last best idea.

spk_0 There's just going to be more coming out of you.

spk_0 You know there's always going to be more.

spk_0 So the second thing, another way that I see us making competitor-based decisions is when

spk_0 it comes to local networking and business relationships.

spk_0 So this looks like skipping networking events because your competitor might be there.

spk_0 Or not collaborating with other local business owners because the competitor might also be in on

spk_0 it too. Or maybe just not going to local events as much, not connecting offline as much

spk_0 with your people because they might be there.

spk_0 Listen, you don't have to be besties with your competitor.

spk_0 You don't have to feel good about seeing them, but you do have to get uncomfortable with them being

spk_0 around. You have to get okay with being uncomfortable, I should say.

spk_0 So get really clear on how you feel when they're around.

spk_0 Maybe it's awkward. Maybe it's anger. Maybe it's imposter syndrome.

spk_0 Like get really clear on whatever that emotion is.

spk_0 And just know that that emotion is the worst thing that's going to happen to you.

spk_0 The worst case scenario in any scenario is you're going to feel a negative emotion.

spk_0 You're going to feel awkward. You're going to feel angry. You're going to feel less than whatever it is.

spk_0 Allow that emotion to be there. Get really good at feeling uncomfortable and go to the event anyway.

spk_0 Meet people. Do the collaboration. Go network. Go grow your business.

spk_0 Because what's the alternative? You don't go. You don't network. You don't meet people. You stop

spk_0 being visible. You stop growing your audience all because you didn't want to feel a negative

spk_0 emotion when you were around the competitor. So again, they continue to grow instead because

spk_0 they're networking, they're collaborating and meeting more people.

spk_0 So the third way I see this show up is in pricing and offers.

spk_0 And we make competitor based decisions based on that. So this looks like making business decisions

spk_0 based on what our competitor is doing. So maybe you see their price is lower.

spk_0 So you lower your price to avoid being too expensive. Instead of learning the skill set

spk_0 of how to position yourself locally or learning the skill set of how to talk about what you offer

spk_0 and so your people see it as a value match. Or maybe you see that their price is higher.

spk_0 So you raise your prices, but your confidence isn't there yet. So you aren't able to go out

spk_0 and confidently talk about what you do and make offers and sell and bring people in because you

spk_0 raised your prices too early before you were ready or based on a circumstance that had nothing

spk_0 to do with you or your audience or your business. Or maybe you create new services in your business

spk_0 because you see that your competitors doing something and you feel the need to compete and stay

spk_0 relevant. But it really leads you to feel frantic and chaotic and you're showing up kind of

spk_0 urgently and graspy and versus like saying grounded and growing with like the current offers

spk_0 that you have and that you decided on originally. Or on the flip side, maybe you do want to bring in

spk_0 a new service or a new offer, but you know it's something that they also do and you don't want

spk_0 to offer it out of fear. Out of fear that people will think that you're copying them or that people

spk_0 will think that you know you're just doing it because they're doing it. So again, it's like we're

spk_0 thinking about them, not our clients. Like what are clients really need and how to get them the

spk_0 best results. So the fourth way, I see this show up, I see us making competitor based decisions

spk_0 is when it comes to support and education decisions. To me, this can have one of the biggest growth

spk_0 and revenue impacts on your business. And I see it constantly. So here's what that looks like.

spk_0 It looks like not going to conferences or not going to local trainings or classes. Again, because

spk_0 they may be there or not enrolling in a program that could grow your business because they may

spk_0 already be in it or not enrolling in a program because they may eventually join if they find out

spk_0 you're in it. There is a cost to this. You slow your growth. You stop yourself from getting the

spk_0 information, the coaching, the skills that your business needs. Meanwhile, your competitor keeps

spk_0 growing. I see this also happen within programs, like not asking for feedback or putting not wanting

spk_0 to put your ideas out there in these containers to get help around your ideas because again,

spk_0 you're afraid if they're in there, they may take your ideas, which goes back to the first point.

spk_0 I've really like clutching and holding on to your ideas versus just moving faster in your

spk_0 business and trusting that you're just going to have more and more ideas coming out of you.

spk_0 Like, let's just get this one out there fast and go again. Like, who cares if they were a bit

spk_0 off? It's just one idea. It's one post. Like, there's hundreds more coming and they're going to see

spk_0 your idea as soon as you put it out in the world anyway. So it's really slowing yourself down and

spk_0 like just getting the feedback or support or whatever you need in the meantime. Or another way I

spk_0 see this come up for people is not wanting to ask questions in a program or in a coaching container

spk_0 because they don't want their competitor to see how they're struggling or to see that they are

spk_0 struggling at all. And again, this comes back to stopping yourself from growth all because you're

spk_0 not willing to feel uncomfortable. So what's the negative emotion that you think you will feel if

spk_0 that person is in the program and here's about your struggle. Will you feel exposed?

spk_0 Will you feel vulnerable? Will you feel shame? Will you feel embarrassed?

spk_0 Like, get really clear on what that emotion is. And know that that is the only emotion that

spk_0 stopping you from growing. In the sooner you can allow that emotion to just be there,

spk_0 the sooner you can give your business what it needs to move forward. Again, it's not that you

spk_0 have to feel great that the person's in the program. It's not that you have to be excited that

spk_0 they're there, but it's about allowance of the negative emotion, allowing yourself to feel vulnerable,

spk_0 allowing yourself to feel exposed, allowing yourself to feel embarrassed or shame, allowing those

spk_0 emotions, letting yourself get in, learn what you need to learn, develop the skills that you need

spk_0 to develop, develop the mindset that you need. That's how you succeed. It's when you don't allow

spk_0 the emotions and you avoid them, your business stalls. You hide. You don't show up. You don't

spk_0 ask for help. You don't ask the questions. You don't get the information you need. You don't get

spk_0 the knowledge that you need. You don't learn the skillsets. You don't give your business what it

spk_0 needs. And you don't grow that way, but they do. But we want you growing. That's why you're here.

spk_0 So before we wrap up, I want you to ask yourself, where am I making competitor-based decisions

spk_0 in my business? Where am I holding back right now because of a fear around a competitor?

spk_0 Where are you keeping yourself small? Where are you not giving your business what it needs to grow?

spk_0 And if you're ready to stop hiding, finally build your business based on local strategy

spk_0 with the confidence and with the mindset to implement it, come join me inside the local

spk_0 preneur Academy. It's where you'll learn how to stand out locally, how to grow your following,

spk_0 how to create content, how to get fully booked, no matter who else is in your sitting.

spk_0 All right, my friends. You've got this. Click the link in the show notes to check out the local

spk_0 preneur Academy and I hope to see you inside. Hey, if you enjoyed today's episode, I want to invite

spk_0 you to check out my program, the localpreneur Academy. This is the only program for small business

spk_0 owners who want to become the local go-to in their industry with a steady stream of clients.

spk_0 You can find more information at LesliePresnell.com and I'll see you inside.

Competitor-Based Decisions

Interactive Transcript

Topics Covered

Related Episodes

584 - The 4 Fundamentals of Lasting Change: Start today and change your life with Molly Claire

Manifest Space: Intuitive Machines CEO on $800 Million Deal and Building a Lunar Communications Network 11/7/25

Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend: November 7th, 2025

What’s Up THIS WEEK: ChatGPT HUGE Change! 🐦 Threads Catching Up. 📊 3rd Grade Level Marketing Works! | Ep. 425

Share Episode