Most everyone keeps an eye on their direct competitors, and I think you should. When you watch your competitors you can keep a pulse on trends in your industry and be motivated to stay on your game. But what happens when keeping an eye on your competitors turns into an obsession? What happens when you start watching everything your competitor does and it even starts making you upset?

I remember when I started my proposal planning company 11 years ago. I had a client instruct me to wrap boxes in Tiffany blue colored paper and to stack those presents next to a table for 2 for his proposal. I did exactly what was asked of me. But to my surprise, when I posted photos of the proposal later, one of my competitors accused me of copying their idea! The thing is, I hadn’t copied their idea, I was taking the direction of my client.

And that is what leads me to the topic of this blog. I urge you, not to judge your competitors and here’s why:

You Don’t Have The Whole Picture

When you see a photo of your competitors work, you may think, “they copied me,” “that is ugly,” or some other negative thought. But the reality is, you don’t know what the client asked for. You don’t if the client came to that planner with an existing vision and the planner was merely executing the vision. You don’t know if the client had a specific budget and the planner had to substitute things to accommodate. You simply don’t know any parameters that the event planner was working under.

You Don’t Know What Information They Had

With Wedding Planners, they are allowed to work with the bride AND groom to create their vision. A Proposal Planner has a serious challenge in that we are ONLY allowed to work with the Proposer yet our goal is to satisfy the Proposee. It may be easy to look at a proposal and think it was missing or lacking something, but sometimes the clients do not provide correct or ample information and the event planner doesn’t have much to go on. We have to assume that the information they provided about their partner is thorough and accurate.

We All Start Somewhere

Proposal Planning is a relatively new niche that is expanding and growing by the day. New Proposal Planners are entering the industry on a daily basis and they aren’t going to be the Dave Tutera of Proposals coming out of the gate. We all start somewhere and you may see a proposal and think “meh” but remember, the newbies are learning and fine tuning their craft too. We should be supportive and remember, we all started somewhere.

It Is Negative Energy

Hating on someone else is a non-productive habit. We should be lifting each other up and not tearing each other down. So keep these things in mind next time you think about your competitors. And hopefully they will do the same!

Proposal Planning is an amazing niche in the Wedding Industry and completely changed my life. Do you wonder if Proposal Planning might be right for you? Looking for a Proposal Planning school? Download my FREE resources below to learn more.