Dealing with whining crybabies?

[Jim Lapenta]

Just in general what does anyone recommend for dealing with other dive businesses that resent someone else's success? Even little successes.

How do you handle those who just can't accept business models different from their own to the point where they seem to go out of their way to cause problems. I mean it's one thing when a retailer is really bad mouthing someone else all the time and needs to be put in their place. Or a business is constantly violating MAP policies.

But when a small business gets a break from a mfg, resort, or dive operation and is trying to get established with the goal of being truly successful down the road a bit and being very careful with costs and a different business model, is it really necessary to piss and moan like a little baby whenever they do well? What is wrong with doing your thing and letting the other guy do theirs? We live in a capitalist society. Not everyone's way of dealing with that is the same. Rather than being a whiner why not revamp your own model to compete with the PERCEIVED threat (only real if you let it be real)?

Not pointing fingers at anyone. Just something that has come to my attention on some of the other sites I frequent. People seeing this not as a dive community with room for everyone, but as a little empire they must rule over and make sure they put down anyone who tries to encroach on what they THINK is their domain.

I keep seeing a commercial about how many great companies started in a garage. Some may have even started in a basement, living room, or trunk of a car. Are those guys bad or are they smart in that they were able to start very small with little overhead and lots of patience?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I saw this happen a few years ago, when an independent instructor I was associated with started selling certain lines of dive equipment to support his students. One of the local dive shop owners did everything he could to disrupt the business, complaining that the instructor wasn't in compliance with local laws because he operated out of his house (he had a valid business license to do so), complaining to the equipment manufacturers that this wasn't a "legitimate" point of sale, and telling everyone who would listen that this person was engaged in "unfair" business practices because he didn't have the expense of a store to deal with. I guess people eventually got tired of listening to his whining, because he ultimately went out of business. The guy he was complaining about is still doing just fine, on the other hand ... which I take to indicate that people generally prefer his business model better.

Whiners gonna whine, Jim ... let the market decide who they'd prefer to do business with ... most folks don't walk into a business to engage in drama, and would prefer a place that just offers them goods and service at a reasonable price ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SeaCobra]

well Jim, you probably have already been given the best advice - don't worry about them and use your time more productively. However, as my old Irish aunt always told me, 'if you can keep your head while all those around your are losing theirs, perhaps you don't what the bleep is going on'. If you are hearing the same criticism from multiple sources, or from a source you respect, it might be worth a listen.

Having a mentor can be very valuable as well. In my early sales days I had a manger that taught me to find someone being successful in the area I wanted to excel, take them to lunch, shut up and listen. Maybe someone like Steve Lewis could be a good resource for you? I often use David Ochs down in WPB, FL.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

It was one person complaining to one of my product sources. Not my primary line. Did not like the way I advertised something. No MAP violation, no excessive promotion, just here, I have this, and this is the price for it. What I gathered was that they did not like I was selling on line was what I was told. Yet I did a Google search and found the item on Newegg! I have no idea where Newegg's shop is. And then found it on Amazon for less than MAP being sold by another shop. Did I tell them about that. Yes. But if no one had complained about my sale I would have said nothing because it is not that big of a deal. A little item that it seems you can get multiple places but I am the one they complained about. Sucks having a good reputation sometimes. Brings out the whiners and those who, for whatever reason, feel the net is their house.

If I had been violating MAP they'd have had a reason to cry. But I wasn't. It pissed me off and had to just get it out there.

 

[SeaCobra]

It can be good to vent