Tag Archives: competition

What’s Wrong with Some Healthy Competition?

Last week I heard a story on the radio about a blowout high school basketball game that took place in Utah. Christian Heritage High won over West Ridge Academy, 108 to 3 in girls’ basketball. Instead of the story being about this awesome game that Christian Heritage won, it was about unsportmanship. Why? Apparently some have criticized the coach for allowing the team to score so high. His defense was that he only had nine available players and so he couldn’t pull out his starters. I guess some believe that they should have slowed the game down a bit and … Continue reading →

Who Are You Competing With?

There is such a thing as healthy competition—the kind that spurs us on to be better people or to be more creative, efficient and productive. There is also unhealthy or destructive competition that keeps us from paying attention to our own needs and puts too much focus on external validation. Are you someone who is naturally competitive? Or are you someone who could use a little competition to get you motivated? For a single parent, making sure that competition has a reasonable and healthy role in our life can be important. Don’t get me wrong—I like a little competition and … Continue reading →

Researching Competitive Pricing

As small business owners, we know intellectually that we need to set our prices in such a manner as to be competitive with other businesses in our industry and area, but figuring out how to go about that can be another matter. The first step in establishing competitive pricing for your products or services is to do some research to find out what is going on in your market. Initially, you need to define what your market is and who your competitors actually are. In this day and age, that can definitely go beyond geography. For example, if you are … Continue reading →

Dancing with the Stars

I’ll freely admit it—I’m a “Dancing with the Stars” fanatic, too. It’s allowable to have more than one television love, isn’t it? “Dancing with the Stars” has a fun premise. It takes world class ballroom dancers and teams them up with celebrities, who may or may not have any dancing in their backgrounds at all. The professionals choreograph the numbers and teach them to the celebrities, who then perform them for three judges—Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli, professionals in the business. The judges’ scores only count for half of the contestants’ total score—the viewers at home can … Continue reading →

American Idol

“American Idol” fever has swept the nation and I got swept right along with it. From the moment it hit the American airwaves seven seasons ago, it’s been the talk of the break room, the water cooler, and the hair salon. So, just what is all the hype about? We start by seeing the auditions. The three judges—Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson—travel to different cities across the nation and audition local talent. These hopefuls first pass by preliminary judges who either wave them through or send them on their way. They are then sent one at a time … Continue reading →

Going up Against the Big Guys

I don’t know about you, but I know plenty of small and home business owners (including myself) who think of themselves as the “under dog”—we just cannot help it. For most of us, we have little operations, often operating out of a corner of our garage or living room and we probably do not have the resources and labor power that the bigger companies in our market or industry does. This does not mean, however, that we cannot compete. In fact, in some cases, we may be better situated to compete than those big impressive competitors. For most of us, … Continue reading →

Letting Kids Win

When I was a kid, I was definitely raised in a world where grown-ups had to be in charge. I can even remember playing marbles with my great-grandmother and she would beat us every time–without giving an inch, she would play to win. Between competition and the need for grown-ups to have the last word, a child can start to feel rather stubborn and rebellious in trying to feel empowered. You might notice that a big part of what is going on with stubborn toddlers is that they are trying to get some control and power in their lives. I … Continue reading →

Look for Ways to Gain an Advantage

Periodically we talk about competition in the business world here in the Home Business blog and I know that some of us are “into” understanding how to be more competitive and some of us take a different approach to business operations. I also know that using a word like “advantage” can be challenging—some of us just don’t want to think of ourselves as “cut-throat” business people. Still, if we want our businesses to succeed, we do need to find ways to increase our advantage—make ourselves more likely to be chosen by customers, clients and prospects. Gaining an advantage does not … Continue reading →

I Need a Little Competition to Keep Me Going

I am NOT one of those Type A people who needs constant lists and comparisons and competition, in fact–too much keeping score is a surefire way to drive me off a project or out of a certain job. HOWEVER, I have realized as I have gotten older that I do need a little bit of competition, expectation and comparison in order to keep me motivated. These can be hard to come by when one is working alone in a home-based business… Even though I know other people who are operating small and/or home businesses, I don’t really know anyone in … Continue reading →

They Still Compete for Attention (Even Though They’re Older)

One of the realities of the single parent home–especially those of us who have more than one child–is that we have to divide our attention and our focus up amongst all sorts of competing things–starting with our kids! Even though my kids are older teenagers and nearly grown–they still compete for my attention… Single parents have to split up their time, focus, and attention and it isn’t always easy–between work, home, personal stuff, and our child, it is nonstop. For me, with three kids and a home business, I still have not gotten used to all the interruptions and all … Continue reading →