Let’s be real it doesn’t feel good when others copy your business idea and/or marketing.

People like to say, “The highest form of praise is when someone copies your idea.”

This is simply not true. If you’ve grown a business to any size, you’ve likely experienced this and felt the discomfort that comes from someone copying your work or marketing. We’ve experienced it and have clients who experienced it as well.

There was an incident recently that sparked this thought process again for me. A competitor of ours copied a piece of our marketing. I know this sort of thing happens regularly and feel passionate that there needs to be more awareness about it.

Copying other’s work, whether in your marketing or business idea, tells others that you aren’t clear on the differentiators of your business. It reflects poorly on you and what you are building. You are not likely to succeed if you are unable to understand your unique why, target audience, and be confident in yourself or your business. If your customers/clients notice the copying, they will lose trust in you and your ability to help them.

There is certainly the ability to exist well within your industry in relation to others who are doing the same thing. I have great relationships with other marketing agency owners. In these relationships, we have mutual respect and often have some overlap in the people we serve. We’ve had conversations about who we are looking to work with so that we can make referrals if we aren’t a good fit.

A mindset that there is enough room in the industry for us to exist is so helpful. This allows room to be gracious, to put your head down, and to do your best work.

The question is, how do I draw inspiration without copying? Here are a few things I keep in mind when drawing inspiration:

• Keep your eyes open for inspiration wherever you go; you may find it in other industries. This will add a different perspective to your industry and will decrease the probability of crossing the line.
• You may find inspiration from within your industry. When this happens, you may take the base idea and make it your own. For the instance above, they could have seen our post and written their own caption, putting their unique spin on it rather than changing a handful of words in our caption and using it as their own.
• Understand your target audience when taking inspiration. What someone else within your industry does will likely not speak directly to your target audience, however, maybe the base idea will work with changes to reach your specific audience. 

So how should you approach a situation where you’ve been copied? There are different scenarios with differing approaches.

A copied social media post or marketing. Generally, this is something that would be best to be ignored when possible. Keep your head down and stay in your lane. If it happens once, it may have been unintentional. If it repeatedly happens, then it likely is not.

If, however, the marketing is so similar that there is likely confusion between you and their company, then action may be required. What could this action look like? Reaching out to the other company and pointing out the similarities and asking them to make changes.

A copied business idea. This has serious implications for the survival of your business. If this is happening or has happened to you, it is important to pay attention and take time to consider how you are different from others in your industry, including the business that has copied. Knowing exactly what makes you different empowers you to present your business uniquely. There may be a season of needing to increase your marketing to ensure that your business continues to grow.

Speaking to a trusted business advisor is helpful in separating the emotion from the incident and receiving action steps for moving forward.

This subject has many facets, and everyone has their own perspective on it. I’d love to hear from you. What are your thoughts?