“Rainy days and Mondays always get me down”– or at least they did Karen Carpenter as I grew up hearing her sing the song. Today is Monday and it’s pouring rain. I’m actually writing this blog article to waylay my having to go out and get wet delivering some printing jobs to clients. In my mailbox this morning I found a short email about competition. It conveyed some simple thoughts. See what you think about them.

• “How good am I?” is the second question that every business owner must answer. “How good are my competitors?” is the first.
• Like it or not, your competitors set the height of the bar you must jump.
• It’s a weary old saying, but true, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”

And as venture capitalist I knew once told me, “We learned quickly that the most important predictor of success is determination. At first we thought it might be intelligence. Everyone likes to believe that’s what makes startups succeed. It makes a better story that a company ‘won’ because its founders were so smart. But while it certainly helps to be smart, it’s not the deciding factor. There are plenty of people as smart as Bill Gates who achieve nothing.”

So, essentially making money is easy:

1. Sell what people want to buy
2. Offer it at an attractive price
3. Occupy a high-visibility location
4. Wave your arms and draw a crowd

Maybe you can’t have all of those, but I have never seen the combination fail. Need some help? We’re here.