Three Icky Signs of Success
Lawsuits
Haters
Copycats
To be successful in business you have to throw your entire self into it. You expose your dearest wishes and dreams to the world, sacrifice time with family and friends, and often risk more money than makes any sense. Even with that kind of dedication, most businesses don’t make it past 5 years. Here’s how it goes: You start noticing growth, and for a minute it feels like you’ve got this thing figured out! And then BOOM, you get a big fat attorney letter hand delivered to your door, or someone’s critical words laser right into your greatest vulnerability, or—in the greatest affront—someone brazenly rips you off.
These are the things that make people quit. If you’re a business owner, one (or ALL) of these things happen to you and you don’t want to quit, I have some other ideas.
💼 Lawsuits: Most lawyer letters are just posturing and they’re almost never from someone who is doing better than you. If it’s coming from a person whom you can contact, reach out and find out what the real beef is. You might be able to calm it all down with some clear communication. Another strategy: Call their bluff. You may have to invest in your own lawyer to do this part, but in so many words say, ‘Really, or else what?’ Most of the time they will just take their ball and go home because lawsuits cost $$. If they don’t and you’re serious about your own success, it’s time to put your big girl pants on, pay your attorney, and fight.
🧌 Haters: For the greatest majority of haters, especially Internet trolls, the best approach is to just keep moving. There’s nothing to be gained by engaging them, and if you do, you will only draw negative attention to your business and distract yourself. You can’t afford that. Let it go. You’re never going to stop them. In fact, the bigger you get the more haters you’ll have. Just block the person and document it just in case it gets weird or dangerous, but don’t let it slow you down. One thing I do is keep an I’m Awesome file, filled with glowing testimonials, cards, and letters I’ve received from past clients. That helps me get my head on straight. (One exception: Gary Vaynerchuk sometimes DM’s his haters and asks ‘Hey that thing you said came off kind of hate-y. What did you mean?’ He’s had more than one person respond with an apology and revelation that they were in a bad place, and actually converting them into a raving fan. There’s no guarantee that will happen for you though, so be realistic if you try this approach.)
😼 Copycats: I once had a competitor take my business name and trademark it in their own tagline. It nearly undid me. It was morally wrong and unfair. But was it? Business life is not for the faint of heart. Unless they’ve violated a copyright there isn’t anything you can do to stop them, and you shouldn’t spend a second or a dime trying to. The way I see it, copycats are just lazy competition and a sign for you to level up. If it was that easy for them to really copy you, you have not been accessing that thing that ONLY YOU can deliver to your audience. Time to go back to the drawing board and get better. Get so good and so big that your audience sees your copycat but calls you for the business.