Lesson #5: Stay One Step Ahead By Anticipating Your Competition

Gillette’s idea for a disposable safety razor was a novel one, and like most other novel ideas, it inspired countless copycats. As it turns out, Gillette was not only attracting customers with his unique razor, but a surge of competition. Until 1921, Gillette knew he had his bases covered, but he also knew that after that he would have to step up his game. 1921 was the year that his original patents were set to expire.

Rather than sitting back and relying on his brand name and whatever customer loyalty he had built up since being in business to carry him through, Gillette decided to take action. He was not going to let his competitors sideswipe him out of business once his patents expired. Instead, he chose to anticipate their entry into the market and prepare himself accordingly.

Gillette knew that the second his patents expired, there would be an avalanche of knockoffs of his razors in the market. With that, he decided to both design and patent a new and improved model. And, how did he go about promoting it? He knocked his original product and said it was never as good as his new one. “Any other razor you’ve ever known is crude,” read one Gillette ad at the time.

While pushing his new product, Gillette did not forget about his old one. Instead of discontinuing the model and admitting total defeat, Gillette repackaged the razors and sold them at a tremendous price markdown. He also introduced an intermediate razor, so as to make his presence known at three different price points and strengthen his overall market share.

Throughout his career, Gillette had an astute ability for anticipating the future and its trends. Just two weeks prior to the stock market crash of the 1930s and the ensuing Great Depression, Gillette sensed the bad times ahead. He informed the company that he would be selling off a large portion of his company stock. His reason was supposedly to pay off mortgages he had on various properties throughout California, but Gillette knew there was a rough road ahead.

Unfortunately, Gillette executives at the time convinced him otherwise. After realizing how Wall Street would react once it found out about the company’s founder selling his stocks, they talked Gillette out of the sale. Soon after he backed off, however, the stock market crashed. Within five years, Gillette had lost almost all of the wealth he had accumulated throughout his life. By the time he passed away in 1932, he was almost bankrupt. This time, he had anticipated the future, but he had let others distract him from his gut instinct.

Gillette was one businessman who refused to ever sit still. When things were going well, he was always thinking about how to make them better, and that meant trying to figure out what his competitors were going to do next. By anticipating future trends in the market, Gillette was able to stay one step ahead of the game.



Lesson #5: Stay One Step Ahead By Anticipating Your Competition

Like this article? Share it with your friends

E-Mail | Print | Post | Republish | More

Related Articles
Lesson #5: Stay One Step Ahead By Anticipating Your Competition
	Gillette’s idea for a disposable safety razor was a novel one, and like most other novel ideas, it inspired countless copycats. As it turns out, Gillette was not only attracting customers with his unique razor, but ...
New Competition in 2008
	Small Businesses who gained profits in 2007, are you ready for your 2008 competition? New competition does not always mean trouble, however competition for the same marketplace can sometimes be tricky. Keeping in ...
How Are You Doing In Business? A Checklist by Robin J Elliott
	If you check off three or more of the following…DON’T sell your kidney on EBay. Don’t check the suicide clause in your life insurance policy. Don’t ask where you can buy an untraceable gun to kill your competitor (o...
Six levels of competitive readiness: How to get ready for the ambush...
	To succeed today you need more than the right product or service. As soon as the market catches on, someone else will find a way to provide a similar product or service. To stay a step ahead of this competition you ...
12 Steps Toward Greater Career and Life Fulfillment
	Clients are always asking us the “secrets” to life/career success and fulfillment. You’ve heard of David Letterman’s Top Ten – here is Cheryl’s Top Twelve steps toward greater fulfillment in your career and your li...

---

Related Forum Posts
	How to obtain grant?
	Step by step approach
	Need a book recommendation for writing better
	Can Your Idea Make Money?
	Re: Lemonade Stand Lessons
	Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods
	Re: Women entrepreneur millionaires
	New moderator