The BIG Decision

What if someone catches up?

When you’re a smaller organization and you’re doing something innovative, new and different…you know other people are going to catch-on (or maybe I should say, “catch up”) and start doing it at some point.

And that’s when you start to wonder:

What if someone with DEEP POCKETS or a HUGE INVESTMENT comes along…blows out the approach…starts writing books and getting press…takes ownership of the space……….and I get left behind?

At first glance that sounds like a reasonable concern…or fear…or whatever.  So, you begin to worry…you begin to scramble…you begin to rush…and you begin to believe that you have no choice but to GO BIG.

And if you don’t STOP, SIT DOWN, TAKE A DEEP BREATH and REALLY THINK ABOUT it…you will drive yourself absolutely fucking crazy.

Personally, that thought goes through my mind about five times a day…but I’ve learned to PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE by reminding myself of the following:

THE BIG GUYS CAN’T PULL IT OFF: In my industry, the immediate thought is that a BIG AGENCY will give it a shot.  But when I really think about it…I realize that I don’t have to concern myself with them at all.  Sure they might open a division…but they will either get distracted (and continue to chase revenue they are used to chasing)…or they will minimize the approach and use it as a “cool thing to say” in their credentials presentations.  Furthermore, at the end of the day, these agencies defined their CORE CAPABILITIES long ago and no client in their right mind is going to take them seriously when they decide to deviate from what they were BRED to do.

NOT CREATED HERE: The chances of someone stealing your exact concept is rare.  Most people (especially in my industry) have ENORMOUS EGOS and they would NEVER admit that a process that they DIDN’T CREATE is better than the process they use.

COMPETITION BREEDS AWARENESS: Did you know the BigHeads concept was STOLEN?  Yup, some worthless, jerk-off consultant actually called me back when I first started this thing and told me that he wanted to meet to talk about ways to bring BigHeads to his clients.  Little did I know, he was sucking all the info he could out of me so he could do it himself (READ ABOUT IT HERE).  So, my worst fear was realized…and to be honest, it wasn’t so bad.  First of all, the guy is a clown so I’m not worried about him at all…BUT, more importantly, I realized that having some COMPETITION IS A GOOD THING.  Think about it — if you are the ONLY ONE doing something, people might immediately think it can’t be all that effective if only one company does it.  BUT if a LOT of companies start doing it…well, that immediately validates the approach.  So…DON’T BE AFRAID of competition (especially if you do what you do better than the other assholes who are following your lead…ahem…FIDO…cough…cough).

THERE’S PLENTY TO GO AROUND: In my industry there are enough companies/brands for everyone.  So, even if someone is able to do what I do as good as I do it (say that 10 times fast)…there are plenty of customers for everyone.  Hell, look how many marketing/PR/advertising/interactive/etc. agencies there are.

THEY NEVER REALLY WILL ‘CATCH UP’: Look…if you are the type of person who can create and pioneer a process/approach/idea…then you will ALWAYS be that person.  And no one who is trying to do what you do will ever REALLY catch up…because you will be constantly EVOLVING your approach.  So, by the time they finally wake up and start heading down the path you paved…you will be taking your approach to the next level and your customers will know it.

FUCK THEM: Pretty self-explanatory, no?

So…the next time you start thinking about someone coming along and stealing your thunder and you start to panic and think, “I gotta GO BIG RIGHT NOW”…keep all the stuff above in mind and get back to doing things at your pace.  Hey, it works for me…