Nibletz Staff
One of the most frustrating things you’ll see in business is when someone purposely tries to mimic your business. It could be a suspiciously similar logo, it might be someone using a similar company name to you, or they could just straight up be copying your product and selling it as their own. What’s even more infuriating is when they’re subtle about their marketing and they actually try to flog their product off as yours. This can be an incredibly stressful time, and it’s enough to make you tear your hair out.
However, don’t go bald yet! There are plenty of ways to deal with copycats, and they don’t all involve hiring a lawyer (although that’s a very good method of dealing with it!). In some cases, you just need to show how silly those companies are for even trying to copy your product, and that alone will be enough to not only give them a terrible reputation but save your business in the meantime. So without further ado, here are a couple of ways to protect your business from fraudsters.
Trademarking and copyrighting
Protecting your business is important— we all know that, but are you going through the right steps to actually protect it? If you’re going to create a new product, use a special name you thought so much about or even start a new brand, you have to copyright it. This gives you the legal power to protect yourself from copycats and you can go ahead and send as many cease and desist letters as you want, assuming they’ve done something worth taking to court over.
Stop people infringing on your intellectual property
Speaking of being taken to court, it’s a good idea to become friends with a DMCA takedown service. The better your relationship, the faster they can take action. Taking down copycats that do everything from mimicking your product to using a similar name as fast as possible is very important. Don’t neglect the importance of making the first move and dealing a finishing blow to these pop-up fraudster businesses.
Staying ahead of the competition
Another way to prevent copycats from ever messing with your business is to stay ahead of the competition. Always offer something new both in terms of technology and customer support. This way, you’ll always be a step ahead of them and they won’t have any means of catching up to you. However, this doesn’t mean you should let them roam free and do what they like. If anything, you should be pressing the advantage you have and shutting them down while you’re ahead instead of giving them time to catch up to you.
Offer something better than the copycats
And lastly, don’t forget to offer something better. If the copycats have caught up to you with product mimicking, then don’t forget you can offer something better by having better customer service, longer warranties or even insurance on your services and items. As long as you’re giving your customers a better deal, they will always stick with you.
