Along your path both to becoming an entrepreneur and to being successful as one, you are bound to making some enemies along the way.
Whether it’s your fault or theirs is irrelevant, but you should expect that at some point, you’re going to hold a grudge towards a competitor, an associate, or even a client or customer.
Even if it’s for a valid reason, you should learn how to let go of these grudges in order to benefit yourself. It’s very easy to be angry at someone as long as you can find a reason.
For example, if a competitor started taking away some of your clients, causing your revenue to decrease, then naturally, you’d be upset with them and start to dislike them. In your mind, they’ve done something wrong to you.
However, if you looked at it from their perspective, they may have been operating normally ? analyzing the marketplace and figuring out how to better serve people – and they happen to have new customers come to them.
While it is unfortunate that they have taken some of your customers away from you, you have to think logically about things. What would getting angry at your competitor do for you?
Apart from a fleeting cathartic release of emotions, not much. Instead, you should put your grudge aside and try to learn from them. Chances are, they’re utilizing a business practice that you could implement yourself that would bring in new customers for your business as well.
The same concept applies to grievances you might have with certain customers. It should be expected that at some point a customers request or complaint will annoy you, and you will develop some small resentment towards them.
However, this will only hurt you and your reputation. Depending on what kind of business you run, chances are, your customers may interact with each other.
If one customer has had a poor experience with you, word may get around to other potential customers, and you’ll be losing out on their business as well.
Setting grudges aside can be difficult, and while looking at things through a logical lens is a good option for helping you get through the process, it isn’t the only one.
You can also try empathizing with them, imagining yourself in their position and wondering how you would react if you were the customer or the competitor.
These skills won’t just help you get over grudges, but they will improve your overall business skills considerably.