Copy Cat Businesses and how to Cope!

Picture by Anne-Marie Sanderson

I am feeling so annoyed having read one of my friend's posts on Facebook where she tells us that whole chunks of her website copy and ideas have been stolen and placed on someone else's website and business literature.

It's made me think about all the times that Gunter and I have suffered from this same copycat syndrome. It doesn't stop there, they will go after your client base too. We even had a business that tried to steal our name and our logo, let alone the ideas!

The gratifying factor is that they copy the things they see but they will never know the true secret to your success that they try to emulate, that's not to say that copying doesn't undermine your business and take the bread out of your mouths but it does mean their days are numbered, their longevity is questionable and their ethical sensibilities are none, even if they insist their business is ethical.

When someone copies you, the usual response from well-meaning friends is that you can choose to see it as flattering, however if someone steals your car, no one says that is flattering. I prefer to look at it this way, the threat to your business is a challenge for you, a challenge for you to focus on the positive and not the negative. Choose to concentrate on your business and all the good things you do and choose to ignore the other business, do not support it, or help to promote it. The one thing that I have noticed is that people that copy are intrinsically negative thinkers and struggle to realise their own brilliance, when they realise their own brilliance, they won't have to rely on yours and in that lies their weakness, if they take on you and try to compete against you, with your own ideas, not their ideas, then how will they ever win that battle? They can't! Their days are numbered because once you cut them from your circle and you are not so generous with your time and your ideas, they will have to stop copying you.

It is a long, slow and painful lesson for them to learn but copying just does NOT WORK. It is a simple equation a business that copies = FAILURE. That business will not last long because copying someone else means that faced with their own challenges in business, they will not have the resources, the though processes, or the experience of how to deal with challenges, they only know how to copy.

So, to anyone, especially my friend, who feels copied in business and stolen from, please take comfort in this, as long as you focus on your business and your positives, you will succeed no matter what, unfortunately I cannot say the same for business owners that copy. They say jealousy is the sincerest form of flattery, that's what they say about copying too......but copying only cheats everyone involved, the business owners and the public.

The one that copies will almost always be a friend, a friend who asks your advice and then takes your secrets for themselves, they'll treat you kindly and then take from you, rather like a conman....'He always seemed so nice', people say after their life savings have been taken, think about it, he wouldn't have been able to take your life savings if he seemed nasty, would he! Yes, it will feel painful cutting them out at first because you're a human with a conscience.

Having been in this situation many times over the past 7 years in Enfield and in Shepton Mallet. I know the way forward for you is to know your positives and concentrate on them.

It is hard to focus on the positive but keep going and blank that business out from your radar. Focus on your goals and your aims and what you are doing.

Pathway to Success!

The reason I enjoy social media so much and implement it into my business strategy is because it makes it easier and more instant for me to communicate any ideas that I may have, it's also a great resource of inspiring ideas by other people. Ideas, communication and interaction are delightfully combined in the Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram and all the rest of them are the perfect platforms for creative women in business, no matter whether at home, on the High Street or out and about. That's why I had the idea to create The Ideas Station, specialised workshops for women. It was only today, that I became truly aware of how I develop an idea of mine from the first thought, or concept, right to the end and completion. For me focus, is the most important first step that I take to bringing my ideas to fruition.

Focus is one of the most truly useful skills we can develop.

I am generally rubbish at that but each time I apply myself and consciously focus on the challenge or action I have to complete, it works. I complete successfully and my vision comes to fruition.

I am sure that you too, like me have lots and lots of thoughts and ideas zooming round your head, about everything. I'm sure you have some amazing ideas and then because of distractions, no action is taken, which means your idea floats away forgotten.

Ideas to me are such valuable celestial inspirations, they seem like bursting stars of gifts from the universe to help me through my life. I am blessed to be extremely rich in ideas, sometimes overwhelmingly rich, which can lead to inaction, as one idea after another causes it's own unique distraction.

When I have an idea, it floats around in my mind, with all the other ideas and constant background chatter that we all have about things we must do, need to do, don't want to do and so on. However, when I choose to focus on one idea, a very strong image is formed in my mind, it is so extremely powerful that it leads me to take each action necessary to implement the idea.

If I could paint what I see when I choose to focus on one idea in particular, there would be a pathway in front of me, with deep perspective, wide at the beginning, where I am standing and my ultimate goal right at the end of the path, where the lines converge. The pathway is edged with light, it could be blue, or yellow, or any other colour, or a kaleidoscope of different hues. The image has straight lines only, like the tunnel that people believe you may see when you die, with the sparkling star of the idea at the end. This visualisation wasn't taught to me, it wasn't a concious decision to use it, initially but as time goes on, that is what I do.
I purposely conjure up that image in my mind and when I say, I'm focussing on this project at the moment, I mean absolutely that. This image protects me from any other distractions, other ideas or obligations are clouded in a misty fog.

It was only today, that I absolutely wholly consciously understood what a powerful technique I have honed over the past nearly 5 years in business. It's a really reliable pathway to success. The biggest tip I can give you for 2014 and beyond is:

Focus on that future point, where your dreams are reality and come to fruition and you will find everything falls into place as you move towards your special light and your ideas transform into reality!

If you want to know more about The Ideas Station inspirational social media workshops for women, then you can read about and book them here.

5 Great Uses for #Yogi #Classic Herbal Teabags!

A teabag is not just a teabag, especially when it is a Yogi Classic teabag.

The Yogi Classic Teabag is an extremely extraordinary teabag indeed. For a start, just the sublime scent of it's warm, comforting spices is incredible, with cloves, cinnamon and ginger intermingling in a delicious dance of aromas as I draw the scent up into my nose....ahhhhhh! Always so comforting, so homely and warming.

The Yogi Tea Classic blend of spices is exceptional above any other spice-blended teabag that I've ever experienced because it has a superbly balanced blend of the herbs, resulting in a sweetness and heat, that I've never experienced in any other spice based product, it is absolutely unique.

So, of course I find other ways of getting to experience this special blend of herbs and spices in my life, beyond what they were intended for as well as, of course, still enjoying an excellent cup of herbal tea, which leads me to first use, for The Yogi Tea Classic Blend Teabag.

1/ An exceptionally fine cup of herbal tea.

Place the bag into a tea cup, preferably a branded 'Yogi' tea glass, actually, just to add to the experience, then pour just boiled water over the bag. Enjoy the steam rising up and breathe in that wonderful mixture of spices but hold it there, don't drink it yet! You must wait the allotted 7 minutes before allowing yourself to take even one sip. I'm not sure what you're meant to do in these 7 minutes, other than wait but hey, it could be a good idea to find out from +Cathy Underwood , Director of +Yoga4mums if there is a special pre-tea drinking Yoga position you could practice in public, without too much embarrassment, whilst you wait for the full flavour of the tea to develop.

The great thing about waiting those 7 minutes is, I find, that the tea is just the right temperature to enjoy and the flavours beautifully infused. The taste of the tea is instantly warming, nurturing, healing and comforting, with a sweetness I can't find in other herbal teas and a full flavour of cinnamon, that feels almost chewy in my mouth. Just wonderful, a simple and pure enjoyment.

2/ Apple Pie in a Tea Cup (Thanks to +Kareen Cox for the name suggestion!)

You get a Yogi Tea Glass, or your normal mug or teacup, pour in some apple juice, then pour that apple juice from the cup into a pan on the hob and gently heat it. When it is hot put the Yogi Classic teabag in and wait until it's the right temperature to drink, again 7 minutes might work here.

We sell this concoction in our shop and it is very popular but you can also take the time, just to make it yourself at home and to enjoy it. For me, it's almost like slurping an apple strudel. what I really love about it is that it's incredibly tasty and yet it is so simple, just apple juice and that special tea bag, no added sugar, nothing else and it is so deliciously YUMMY!

3/ An extremely healthy and tasty breakfast!

This is also served in our shop and is especially good for you, if you are on a gluten-free, or dairy-free diet as we use gluten-free oats and coconut milk. Again, you can make it at home easily. It's a great snack before bedtime as well as for breakfast.

Warm up some coconut milk on the hob and put in the cinnamon tea bag, take away from heat and let the flavours seep out, for around 5 minutes.

In the meantime, get the gluten-free oats and pour them into a bowl, then pour the spicy warm milk into the bowl but don't let the teabag go in! Put a dollop of sugar free apple puree into the oats and swirl around.

It is so delicious and nutritious, I love food that tastes good and is good for you!

4/ Clothes Sachets.

Yes, hang those little teabags up in your wardrobe and not only will your clothes smell warm and spicy but although we humans enjoy the scent, moths do NOT like it at all! Result, sweet scented, moth-free clothes!

5/ Car Scent! 

This idea was suggested by Roz Lishak of Character Bakes! You could make a delicate little thing out of material, maybe a heart-shape or something and then put that yummy Yogi Tea Bag in. Imagine how much easier it would be to deal with other people's rubbish driving when you have that calming smell in the car, everything in the world would seem right, wouldn't it and then it would all slip off, like water off a duck's back! Sigh.

And once you've finished with all those tea bags you've been using, don't waste them put them on the compost heap!

Yogi Tea Bags, Coconut Milk, Apple Puree and Gluten-Free Oats are all available to buy in our shop. Yogi Tea glasses are free with every purchase of two packets of Yogi Tea.

Try to get to us before +Garry kousoulou , as he is a Classic Yogi Tea fiend!

Please let me know your thoughts by commenting underneath.

And if you liked this article please share your discovery with others by Tweeting, Facebooking or Google Plussing. Thank you.xxx