The art of war in business

BY JOHN KARIUKI

James Kimwomi, a pensioner, entered the matatu business with an agenda of advocating change. Courteous crews manned his vehicles, and he ensured that they followed the Michuki rules strictly. In no time, his matatus had made a name and given the other operators a run for their money.

But the other crews were not taking this lying down. They begun a rumour that Kimwomi was a ‘devil worshipper’, and that was why he was having such a dramatic rise in the trade.

These touts would warn people that the ‘demonic powers’ — that Kimwomi allegedly owed allegiance to — would be coming for a blood payment, any time. They juiced up the rumour by adding that these ‘demons’ would be collecting their payment by virtue of a ghastly crash.

Within days, Kimwomi noticed a sharp drop in passenger numbers. Upon inquiring, he learnt of this cleverly disseminated lie and took his vehicles on a different route immediately.

Superior marketing strategies

Martin Jasho, a former hotelier, decided to start a pub in a small town on the outskirts of Nakuru. By employing his superior marketing strategies and networks, his establishment was soon the talk of town and its environs.

But other pub owners ganged up to stop his meteoric rise. They would send unruly youths to fight and cause a fracas in his pub just to give it a bad name. Jasho became wise to their attempts and promptly hired muscled bouncers who put a stop to this.

"Their next move was to raid my employees, promising them extra pay," says Jasho. But he had also anticipated this.

"I called a staff meeting and asked anybody who wanted to leave to do it so that I could unveil new terms and conditions for those who would remain," says Jasho. He stalled the staff exodus by raising their pay.

"Within a month, the competitors regrouped and hatched a new plan. They began sending security officers to arrest revellers outside my premises," says Jasho.

Jasho reckons that the officers were misinformed that he was conducting illegal activities at his premise. But some law-abiding patrons got scared and kept away, resulting in a slight drop in sales.

Fun park

To beat competitors, he changed his premise to a weekend fun park with facilities for occasional receptions, and groups meetings. His competitors have since ran out of tricks and left him alone.

Many business people face a continuous struggle as they seek a footing in the marketplace. Sometimes the competition may be associated with the crab mentality, as in the matatu and pub examples given above. In this mentality, business owners will use all methods to bring each other down.

But analysts are saying this type of mentality, where firms embrace the ‘all or nothing’ approach to business is archaic. Today’s business environment has forced firms to be more refined and less cruel in their attacks. And this healthy competition serves as a reality check so that a business can improve its products and services.

Caleb Gacheru, a manager with a manufacturing firm, says that there is both direct and indirect competition.

"In direct competition, businesses produce similar products that appeal to the same group of consumers," he says. According to him, this is the stiffest of all business competition.

"Indirect competition exists when different businesses, like the movie industry and television stations may compete for the same money in customers’ pockets. Though selling different products, both actually entice people to spend money on leisure activities through the sale of CDs and programmes," says Gacheru.

This manager says that knowing one’s competitors and what they are offering is the first step to dealing with competition.

"With this knowledge, one can improve products, services and marketing," says Gacheru. Unfortunately, many business owners go though their lives without knowing this vital point.

Ms Beryl Opar, an accountant, says that all businesses face competition.

"Even if one operates the only restaurant in town, he or she actually competes with pay television, cyber cafes, bars and other businesses where customers could spend their money," she says.

She says businesses must be attuned to their competitors, and realise that they could be heading towards redundancy if the competition begin offering products that are similar to those that they sell.

"Competition is not simply another business that might eat into one’s market segment. It is frequently another product or service that is being developed, and which one ought to be selling or using," she says. She gives the example of ATM technology, that forced banks to embrace it, or risk becoming redundant.

"At the moment, every financial institution and service provider has gone into overdrive in adopting mobile phone money transfer technology in order to cope with competition," says Opar.

Charles Kigen, an insurance broker, says one way of riding on competition is to customise products and services.

"Once you provide customers with the ‘tailor-made’ benefits, you lock them in your business for a long time," says Kigen.

He points out that this customisation need not be an expensive and time consuming activity.

"For example, a baker can make cakes and other confectionaries in a wide range of shapes and sizes, and with different recipes," he says.

"And any hotelier can make a basic dish of ugali, which can be taken with a variety of vegetables, meats and soups and this is customisation by all standards," says Kigen.

Dealing with competition

This, he adds, has the potential of attracting even more customers and, therefore, dealing with the competition.

The broker cites the car business, where many models of cars come in several versions, like the salon, station wagon and pick-up. He says this is a way of customising the brand to suit many tastes, and stand up to the competition in any one line.

The greatest lesson in spotting competition and taking it head on comes from the story of Coca-Cola. When the giant company was facing a downturn, an executive asked what people drink in lieu of Coca-Cola and the answer was water. Realising that their main competitor was water, the company put a soda vending machine at every street corner, and this gimmick paid off handsomely.

But at the end of the day, connecting with one’s customers is a best way to learn just how well you are competing with rivals. Experts in entrepreneurship say talking with one’s customers directly builds a business’s credibility. And with the rise of the social media usage, one can ask his or her customers for feedback that a business needs in order to grow and ace the competition.