Imitation and Excellence
One of our Northern Vessel One Percent Better shirts was spotted in Hollywood yesterday. It's always cool seeing our shirts all over the country, which comes on the heels of them going semi-viral last fall. So, yesterday, it was fun to receive a photo of another one in the wild in Los Angeles.
However, one problem. Check this out:
The picture on the left was taken on the streets of Hollywood yesterday afternoon. The picture on the right is one of our marketing photos posted on Instagram last September after releasing our new design. They look oddly similar—the color, the word placement, the offset. However, notice how the design on the left is in a slightly different font and doesn't have any overlap in the words. It's an imitation! Someone literally took our design and recreated their own for profit.
You know what they say, imitation is the best form of flattery. Nobody would try to steal our designs if it sucked. Therefore, it tells us that what we're doing is moving the needle. But we have a choice to make. We can either get mad and try to get even.......or we can simply be excellent. Guess which one we'll choose.
One of my close friends recently reached out to me with a problem. Someone opened a similar business to his business, less than a block away. This new business will be a direct competitor, and he's pissed. Imitation is the best form of flattery. I told him that he has two options: 1) Be upset and find a way to feel victimized, or 2) Be excellent.
Remember last September when I shared about how Caribou Coffee was moving in next door to Northern Vessel? The local media wanted to do a piece about how big business is killing the little guy. Instead, TJ shared with the reporter that we're glad to have them join the neighborhood. Hopefully, it will bring more traffic to the area and, perhaps, we'll have an opportunity to serve some of those new people. He also added this: "At the end of the day, excellence wins."
Fast forward 10 months, and we have a better sense of reality. The Caribou next door is struggling. Once in a while, while hanging out at Northern Vessel, the boys and I will walk over to Caribou and buy a bagel. The last time we did this little exercise, there were 67 people inside the small Northern Vessel shop. When we got to Caribou, it was completely empty.....not one soul.
The t-shirt situation is silly. We're just going to focus on excellence.
Yeah, Caribou opened next door. We simply need to focus on excellence.
My friend just received some new competition down the street. He needs to focus on excellence.
If you don't have a similar situation in your life right now, you will soon. You have two options: 1) dwell on it and be upset, or 2) focus on excellence. Excellence always wins!
____
Did someone forward you this post? We're glad you're here! If you'd like to subscribe to The Daily Meaning to receive these posts directly in your inbox (for free!), just CLICK THIS LINK. It only takes 10 seconds.