The reality is that fast-followers are a model that has always existed and will continue to exist. Large industries have been built by copying other business models.
Benchmarking It is a common practice that analyzes the competition to identify areas where we can apply and improve.
“This tool consists of making a comparison between your business and the competition (both direct and indirect), as well as with leading businesses in other industries or other markets with the intention of discovering and analyzing what their winning strategies are and, if possible, applying them in your own company.
The first thing to understand is that there's room in this world for everyone to grow and develop. You and I can do the same things, but we'll never do them exactly the same. We know that, humanly speaking, we can't serve everyone, and I firmly believe in collaboration with other colleagues.
I know it's annoying. It happens to me with someone on one of the projects I work on. It's so obvious that when I do a program or project, they copy everything, even the names. I've announced something today and tomorrow I'll see the copy/paste on their website. What that person can't possibly know is that we've spent weeks, even months, developing that strategy. In this specific project, we already had the projects we were going to work on for the entire year.
In fact, it's so blatant that once they copied and pasted something and at the end wrote, "I don't know how I'm going to do it, I'll let you know when I figure it out." We were already implementing the next strategy and had it planned, and this person was still "thinking" about how they were going to do it. Even now, during the quarantine, we've digitized some services, and guess what? Yes, they copied those too. It's inevitable because they're people who lack initiative.
Constantly focusing on what others are doing takes time away from our own projects and drains our energy. For this reason, we must work on our unique selling proposition (USP) and be able to identify:
"What makes me different? Why would customers prefer me?"
Another aspect you should work on is your value proposition.
" The value proposition is the heart of a business model. It encompasses a whole series of functional and emotional benefits that the company provides to the customer and that the customer recognizes as different and unique to the brand compared to its competition."
Don't get discouraged or fight. How can you handle it? Simple. Let it motivate you to keep creating. You must always be 10 steps ahead so they can't catch up. When you develop strategies beforehand, with the end in mind, you're working with purpose. That's the difference your "top fan" won't be able to copy.
Finally, it is important to emphasize that you should seek legal guidance if you believe that person is committing plagiarism.
