Do we have the same mission, vision, values?
Are we after the same thing?
Are the people we're working to serve the same?
No to all of the above.
There are people who listen to me who will not ever listen to you. There are people who listen to you who will not listen to me.
Keto and Paleo are diets. But they're not competitors. Each eating plan has very specific, definable foods that you can and cannot eat if you want results. One diet will work best for each person. So the competition isn't the eating plan, it's the person testing the plan.
The focus must be on the people we're serving, not the organization providing the service.
When we focus our attention on understanding what our customers and clients need, their pain points, their genuine concerns - the things that keep them up at night - we have all we need to differentiate ourselves from what other people do in our space.
When we focus on what other people are doing, trying to keep up with the Joneses, then we create stress, fear, chaos and depression in our businesses and our lives... And it usually comes home with us, affecting our families and relationships.
My attention is on my tribe, community, customers, and clients. Most of the time, their pain points are the same that I've had or am currently working through. We have that in common, so I have first hand experience on how to help them, how to solve the problem.
It is this that people are paying for - our ability to alleviate the pain.
So your competition is yourself - how you're going to alleviate the pains of your community's lives. The tools you'll use to stay in tuned to their needs and take care of yourSelf (yourSoul!) at the same time.
There's no place to worry about competition when these are your foci.