Competitive Advantage

WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL BY PATRICE TSAGUE

Do you know what makes your business unique?
Have you crafted a competitive advantage?
Does it have a clear redemptive purpose?

Competitive Advantage

I believe that the Apostle Paul was either an athlete, had a great interest in athletics, or else he was simply a very driven man!

He was able to write almost half of the New Testament single-handedly, and throughout his writings, he used various athletic analogies and made various references to competitive performances.

Many Christians struggle with the idea of competition. It sounds so worldly! 

In the Biblical Entrepreneurship Program offered by the Nehemiah Entrepreneurship Community, we focus more on the idea of “completion” rather than “competition.” In the context of Biblical Entrepreneurship, “completion” means to use your uniqueness to make others whole, rather than to use it to create an advantage over them.

But as Richard Carlson, author of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff at Work… and It’s All Small Stuff, says, “Competition is a fact of life. To pretend that it doesn’t exist or that you should avoid it at all costs would be ridiculous.” He goes on to say, “To compete from the heart means…that you compete out of a love for what you do.”

More than anyone on earth, Biblical Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to love the pursuit of their professional “race.” We can enjoy the hard work of our business endeavors because our day-to-day efforts flow out of our love for the One who has ordained the race. Whatever your view on the idea of competition, Scripture is clear that we are engaged in a competitive race that requires focus and discipline if we are going to finish well. Let’s hear what the Apostle Paul has to say:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NKJV)

The difference between the biblical worldview of competition and the worldly view is that in the Kingdom, we believe that the competitor is not another person, but the devil and his cohorts. He just happens to manifest himself through people. But our aim is not to destroy the person the enemy is using, but to win him or her over to the Kingdom of God, even if it happens through the vehicle of a higher-performing business. 

No matter what our industry or type of business is, if we are to be competitive or have an advantage over our competitors, we must know and walk in our competitive advantage.

Harvard professor, Michael E. Porter, generally known as the father of the modern strategy field, states, “Competitive strategy means deliberately choosing to perform activities differently, or to perform different activities than rivals.” 

Through a unique strategy, competitive businesses deliver a unique mix of values. My friends Howard and Nancy Olsen, in their book, Strategic Planning Made Easy, state, “Competitive advantage is simply the answer to what is your company best at. What do you uniquely do better than anyone else?”

As Kingdom businesses, our competitive advantage must have an eternal dimension. It is the unique approach that we take to serving our customers, while at the same time, being a light for Jesus in the marketplace. It is also the eternal perspective with which we approach our work and our service to our customers. Worldly businesses can have high-grade products, and they may develop great technology and efficient systems, but they cannot bring an eternal dimension to their work and service; this is reserved only for Kingdom businesses.

Competitive advantage sets you apart from every other business. Without it, you are just like everyone else. You are not able to stand out and make a difference. For the Nehemiah Entrepreneurship Community, our competitive advantage is a high-quality, comprehensive, transformational, and biblically-based entrepreneurship curriculum. With this unique advantage, we stand out among other organizations that may provide business education or other types of training products, but who do not have the same approach that we do.

What is your competitive advantage? What do you do best? There is no greater time than now to shore up your competitive advantage. As a result of our current economy, customers have limited money to spend, and a variety of choices. Every business is fighting for survival. Those who succeed will be those who are able to stand out and be different while providing innovative and cutting-edge solutions. Determining what you are best at may be the key to your survival. Whatever you come up with, make sure it has an eternal dimension so you can reflect the will of the King.

My prayer for you is that God will grant you the wisdom to identify or clarify your competitive advantage, so that you may develop a unique and innovative approach to serving your customers that includes an eternal dimension.