Recommendation for recommendation

[Tigris]

Hi guys,

for a while now we have worked with a local company (Similar niche to us) in terms of recommending them for specific work and vice versa. This is for work they cover but we don't and again vice versa.

Recently we have been contacted by them mentioning they have no option but to expand into our field to keep things going and to let us know before they start advertising (this does feel as if we have been sh*t on).

Being known in the area for our particular niche and building up clients over the past 5 years i'm not sure if to leave things as they are or return the favour and expand into there area?

 

[fantheflames]

Hi @Tigris! I'd appreciate the heads up. Seems like you have a fairly open and transparent relationship there! Many businesses would just crack on... at least in my experience.

Perhaps keep the open communication with them and express your concerns and explore potential opportunities that could benefit you both?

This could help you to offer your services and offer their services without needing to directly compete if there's an agreement in place on what can/ can't be offered. If it makes business sense, perhaps merging might be a good idea, this could benefit both of you and decrease resources/ marketing efforts. Although negotiating and depending on another business is tricky.

Or, as you mentioned, head into their area and start scaling your business accordingly. This way, you still have full control of your business, strategies, and ops.

If collaboration and efficiency is your goal then perhaps a partnership of sorts or a merger might work better. Or if growth and independence is better for your business than expanding to their area might be worthwhile. Ultimately the choice is yours. You could stay put in your area and increase your marketing efforts too.

I'd begin analysing your business against theirs, if you haven't already, and get ahead that way. Once you made a decision, I'd start to proactively reaching out to your clients to inform them about any new services or improvements you are making.

 

[YasmeenLondon]

Hi guys,

for a while now we have worked with a local company (Similar niche to us) in terms of recommending them for specific work and vice versa. This is for work they cover but we don't and again vice versa.

Recently we have been contacted by them mentioning they have no option but to expand into our field to keep things going and to let us know before they start advertising (this does feel as if we have been sh*t on).

Being known in the area for our particular niche and building up clients over the past 5 years i'm not sure if to leave things as they are or return the favour and expand into there area?

Have you researched or studied the costs/rewards associated with expanding in their area? if it makes financial sense I would suggest going for it, if you haven't done the research then I would suggest waiting until you have the numbers.

This is also a good time to protect your market share from the new company, make sure your existing customers are on your mailing list and remind them every once in a while of yourself with an offer or an informative email, maybe do some type of loyalty program such as buy 5 get 1 free, or buy 10 and unlock a 5% discount for the next year