We know how it is right? When something becomes trendy, everyone wants to do it. As people generally don’t know where to start (especially without any sort of business experience), they look for inspirations. They think that because they see it on Instagram, Pinterest or even your website, that they can copy and paste it. The question is, when does the inspiration becomes too much of a copycat?
Don’t get us wrong, there is nothing bad with getting inspiration from a person or a business that according to you, is successful. But as an entrepreneur, whether it is your product, your business models or your website that is getting copied, it is never something that you are expecting from the entrepreneurial journey.
How to deal with the copycats in business
1. Good Vibes Only
First of all, no matter how big your business is, you simply don’t need that type of negativity around you. Especially if someone copies you repeatedly & relies on your work as their only source of daily inspiration, take the necessary steps and then move on. Let that shit go, literally. Whether for you it is to have the awkward conversation with the person or not, you are allowed to move on. Good thing we are in the 21st century, block them! You might be like whaaat? You need to focus on yourself and your business so stop keeping tabs on the people that you know are looking at you. So yes, block them. Who cares anyway? You are posting for your clients, not for them. They are taking your focus elsewhere and for your business, it is important to keep your head in creation mode, not worrying mode. Nothing good ever comes out from worrying.
2. Focus on yourself
When you’ve put lots of effort and time into creating something, it is normal to get defensive at first but you need to believe in your hearth that there is truly room for everyone and that copycats simply don’t last. Speaking from experience, we know how frustrating it can be especially when your family and friends tells you that imitation is simply a form of admiration towards your business. In truth, yes it is but it is also unfair. Remember that the person who’s copying you probably has no idea of what they are doing and they wanted to draw inspiration from you so much that they ended up copying your entire website without even knowing it. People think that thousands of followers equal thousands of sales each day. With the internet, it is easy to get mislead by the outside, especially when you have no idea of how it is to run a business. Someone that knows, would never base their business upon someone else’s business, which that can explain the whole situation. Know that there is only one version of you and on the bright side, this is a good opportunity to reflect on yourself. Only you knows how much work you put on everything you do so know that unless someone outwork you, they won’t get the same results as you.
3. Seek help and professional advice
You can’t fight all the fights but you need to know the ones that are worthy of fighting and at some point, you will need to draw the line of when it is too much and when it is time to act. As for example, someone copying your entire website word to word, phrase to phrase, page to page can become way too much. If you think that this type of situation would affect your business in any way, it is always a good option to seek professional advices. Know that these fees can sometimes be a part of your business write offs so literally, what do you have to lose? Nothing! In the contrary, you will learn valuable information for your business that will help you move forward!
Keep working hard, stay creative and hang in there. The copycats will eventually find other preys to bite on.
Have you ever been the prey of a copycat? Share your experience and let us know in the comments! At anytime, if you need a shoulder to lean on or want to personally reach out to us regarding something that happened to you, please know that our DMs are always open for fellows entrepreneurs!