That's not to say there aren't other home inventory service professionals in your area -- to the contrary, there might be 1 or 2, or even a dozen or more in your state -- but don't consider them your competitors. Consider them your "co-opetitors."
I can't claim credit for coining the phrase -- I picked it up at a careers industry conference a half-dozen years ago. But as I wrote in an earlier post about trying to growing awareness of the Home Inventory Service (HIS) industry, co-opetition is a good thing.
Co-opetition is also useful for when you get busy (to refer overflow work -- ask for a referral fee -- 10% to 15% is standard) and for increasing the profile of home inventory service business as an industry. Here in Omaha (with a population of 700,000 in a 30-mile radius, there's plenty of work to keep us all busy!) by mentioning the importance of choosing a home inventory service professional when seeking publicity.
I've said it before -- our biggest challenge is lack of recognition -- if people don't know that our services exist, they won't seek us out. The more professionals there are, the bigger voice we will have.
Believe me, it will benefit us all.
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