Individualism and Non-Conformity are Paths to Profits

Plant for Profits Column, Leslie F. Halleck

Differentiate Your Business - Don't Copy!

A concept that I firmly believe is that, for the most part, we all rise and fall together in the gardening and horticulture industry. By that I mean that when businesses similar to yours in your area are doing well, that means there is consumer demand and a healthy market for your products and services. The better we all do in the horticulture space, the better we all do! Rather than getting worried or upset that there is a competitor in your market space that you perceive is “taking” your business, you should see their success as a market opportunity for you.

That said, you won't be surprised that I don’t spend much time worrying about or focusing on “competition”. I do spend time thinking about how I can amplify individuality and differentiate from others. You’re much better off focusing on yourself and your unique business identity than you are obsessing on who you perceive your competition to be. Or, more importantly, making all or important business decisions based on what your competitors are doing.

I spent many years of my career in the garden center industry, surrounded by hundreds of metropolitan big box stores. In fact there were about 170 Home Depots and Lowe’s in my surrounding market, with locations of both right down the street. If I’d worried about their competition, or spent too much time trying to either match their products or prices, I would have low-priced and low-valued myself right out of business. Not to mention there were also quite a few other reputable independent garden centers in my market. Same for my experience in the landscaping and maintenance side of the industry in a heavily saturated and competitive market.

Sure, you need to pay attention to what businesses like yours are doing in your market space. It’s interesting to see what types of products they are carrying, how they are pricing, what they are posting on social, and how they are advertising (if at all). Go ahead and sign up for their e-newsletter so you can see what their seasonal timing and events look like. Yes, this information is interesting and can help you keep up to speed on market trends. You might get some good ideas. You should also make a point of visiting your competitors now and then to get a feel for what the customer experience is like.

JUST DON’T OBSESS ON IT!

Definitely do not make a concerted effort to match their inventory, match their pricing, copy their marketing, or match their revenue and profit goals (they might be a lot lower than you realize). They are them, you are you. Just because other garden centers or garden designers in your area are charging a certain price, or making a certain net profit annually, doesn’t mean that should be your goal or strategy. Why would you want to do the same, when you could potentially do better?

I realize there can be comfort in conformity. But real growth and creativity most often comes from a place of friction and discomfort. By focusing on them instead of you, just because it seems like an easier way to make decisions for your business, you could be leaving a lot of profits and growth potential on the table.

What you should do is look for gaps your competitors are leaving open in the marketplace, or services they may or may not be great at delivering that you can. Then get a better margin for it.

Spend your time getting to know your ideal target customer, their pain points, and how you can uniquely serve them in a way your competitors can’t or won’t. How can you, as a garden center, plant shop, garden designer, plant stylist, or plant grower, deliver plants products and services in a way that is distinct from others in your market?

Remember that innovation, or being innovative, doesn’t require you to invent anything brand new. It just requires that you do something other businesses already do but do it better, or put a new spin on something your customers already want or need.

In reality, I never considered any of the big box retailers or other garden centers in my area real competition. I was only ever my most important competition. I did, however, classify them as potential customer feeders, and businesses with which to share customers for collateral benefit. Believe it or not, I regularly referred customers to the big box stores, and they in turn referred customers to me. Why? Right customer, right retailer. I wasn’t interested in trying to attract their high-volume low-price customers, so I didn’t carry many commodity products they were looking for. I’d send them down the street to Home Depot for that stuff. But I was happy to take their customers who eventually got tired of less-than stellar plant quality and lack of customer service. When these customers evolved into gardeners who needed more in-depth answers to their plant questions that they couldn’t get answered at the local hardware store, they’d show up on my doorstep, sent by the big box employees. Win/win.

Same for the other IGCs. In fact, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for us to call up another garden center “competitor” in our area to see if they had plants or products a customer wanted that we didn’t have in stock. That’s called customer service. Whether you realize it or not, most of you already share many of the same customers, so why not work together for the benefit of the customers when it makes sense?

Customers are going to buy from you because they make a connection to the distinct value you offer them, and because they may see themselves reflected in your unique business identity. If customers can’t really tell the difference between you and your competitors - be it in your plants, products, or portfolio - then what choice do you leave them but to shop for the lowest price?