To close out this year with a golden key and leave a nice message to you all, I decided to write this post about how competitive the fashion industry is. Not only because I wanted to open up about some things, but also because I want you all to start your new year with an open mind and focus on growing your business. Know this, when you only see competitors, you do not see potential partnerships and space to grow.
I grew up in a business environment and my parents taught me how valuable a loyal, proactive and ethical employee is. How important it is for a business to hire the right help, guide them and help them grow with the company. As a good learner, I turned out to be just like that. When I was working on something that I was passionate about, I gave my best to help grow the business and learn everything I could. In every job I ever had, I turned out to be good friends with the owner and my bosses. Until the day I decided to start my own business.
I also have seen people that I worked with competing with each other. Who gets the most clients, who is the boss's favorite (super lame, I know), and who gets more responsibilities. Instead of working together as a team to help each other grow together, it was always a competition. I honestly never fit on this competition circle and that is probably why I always end up helping people more than I help myself… but, in the end, my goal was to do the best for the company, to grow my experience, my network, and becoming the best version of myself, because I knew that would motivate people around me.
Let me tell you, it is not only in the fashion industry, but we do not make it through life alone or without each other's help. Ever! If everything was about competition, then Marc Jacobs would not be able to start his brand while he was Louis Vuitton's creative director. Same for Virgil Abloh, Karl Lagerfeld, and many other fashion designers. Not mentioning that if this industry was all about competition, then why would brands sign collaborations? I mean, Vivienne Westwood and Melissa, Louis Vuitton and Supreme…
It is easy to take things personally. I get it. Especially if you are a good employee who added a lot of value to a company and then you go on your own. Or if you are a business owner and want to compete with somebody who has been in the same industry longer than you. What is not easy is to open your mind and look further than competitions.
If you think your competitor is making more sales than you, instead of trying to compete, why not try a partnership where you can benefit from it? Or maybe look into a different marketing strategy, and use that as a door to enter a different market niche or a new partnership opportunity. If your employee is leaving you to start the same business, what can you do here to build up a trusting relationship? Maybe offer to hire that employee as a freelancer to do services for you (which would help to take some things out of your plate), maybe connect with that employee to make IG live duets about the industry, maybe connect with that employee and come up with a new product/service together. If you have an open mind, the options are endless.
As I said, when I am doing something I am passionate about, I put effort, love, dedication, and all my focus on it. I am also the first one ready to help when one of my coworkers needed help. Probably why I got stabbed in the back a lot, lol (but for real). But one thing I learned is that not seeing everyone as a competitor helped me to create a huge network and, without this network, I would not be able to go on my own. Manufacturers, fabric vendors, connecting to new clients, finding the right investors, and getting the right help to create content, all of these came from staying humble, being able to talk to everyone in this industry, working as a team player, and helping people around me to grow as much as I want to grow my business.
Being open-minded and trying to “not see” competitors does not mean you have to be blind or let people take advantage of you. Know your value, know how much you can bring to the table, and always remember that if you are working on your own business it is because you are good at it and you know what you are doing. Expanding your horizon is necessary to grow your business and to see new opportunities. Enough of taking things personally, trying to figure out how you will beat your competitors, and seeing people in the fashion industry as a competition. It is time to think outside the box, look into opportunities to beneficiate and grow your sales and start new relationships that can be helpful in the long run.
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