理查德布蘭森談如何對待競爭

This post is in partnership with Entrepreneur. The article below was originally published at .

本文是與《創業者》雜誌（Entrepreneur）的合作內容。下文最初發表於。

If you want to be successful in business, you need to welcome your competition with open arms — just don’t let them walk all over you. Strike the right balance between respecting your rivals and focusing on how you can beat them, and you’ll have a winning formula.

要想取得商業上的成功，就要勇於迎接競爭——但不要讓競爭打倒你。如果你能在尊重對手與擊敗對手之間找到平衡點，你就掌握了成功的祕訣。

It’s not unusual for an entrepreneur to become overly preoccupied with what his competitors are up to. Starting a business is a lot of work, and it’s easy to convince yourself that the grass is greener on your rivals’ side of the fence (and to even become obsessed with peeking over the fence to see what they’re up to). These feelings do serve an important purpose: By doing market research on your competitors, you can work out exactly how to provide a product or service that is superior. This is the reason that I sometimes fly on other airlines – often, great ideas are sparked when you notice a problem that a competitor faces and try to find a good solution yourself.

而實際情況往往是，企業經營者們對競爭對手的舉動過於關注。創辦一家企業有許多工作要做，很容易就會認爲別人的企業比你自己的更優秀（甚至一門心思地去探究對方的一舉一動）。這種想法確實不無裨益：針對競爭對手進行市場調查，你就可以知道如何才能提供更好的產品或服務。正是出於這個原因，我偶爾也會搭乘其他航空公司的航班——當你發現了競爭對手需要面對的難題，並竭力想出好的解決辦法的時候，出色的點子就會冒出來。

While it’s beneficial to keep an eye on the competition, you must remain focused on your own team, and on your own products and services. Companies that are always trying to keep up with the Joneses will always be a step behind, and this can foster a culture that is, at its core, reactionary. Businesses that are reactionary forgo innovation and can quickly become irrelevant to consumers. After all, what’s the point in buying something from you that another company has already done better? Show ambition, put some effort into creativity and focus on developing the next big thing, and your company will emerge as the one that others want to copy.

密切關注市場競爭狀況是有益的，但你必須集中精力關注自己的企業團隊、產品以及服務。與競爭對手亦步亦趨的企業肯定總是落於人後，從而從根本上催生一種被動保守的企業文化。被動保守的企業拒絕創新，很快就會被消費者拋棄。歸根結底，如果同樣的產品別人做的更好，消費者爲什麼要買你的呢？提出遠大的理想，努力創新，並集中精力開發新的產品或服務，你的公司也會成爲別人爭相模仿的優秀企業。

Over the years at Virgin, we’ve had many battles with our competition — and we’ve welcomed them all. Sometimes what starts off as friendly opposition escalates into antagonism. The key to dealing with cases like these is knowing when to take a stand, and when to laugh it off.

多年以來，維珍航空公司（Virgin）曾經歷過無數大大小小的競爭——而我們從來都是坦然面對。有些時候，初期友善的對立會升級成爲激烈的對抗。應對這種事態的關鍵在於，懂得什麼時候要表明立場，什麼時候要一笑以置之。

Here’s an example. I headed to Mexico City recently to help launch our new company, Virgin Mobile Mexico. Before my arrival, a competitor leaked a fake story that we were launching “Virgin Tacos” there. There is no such company, of course, but rather than make a fuss about it, I met up with some of Mexico’s leading bloggers for lunch (we had tacos, of course!), introduced them to a few of our staff and explained why our mobile company can provide consumers with something different than the competition.

我舉個例子。最近我前往墨西哥城，參加我們新創公司墨西哥維珍移動公司（Virgin Mobile Mexico）的發佈會。在我抵達之前，一位競爭對手大肆製造謠言，說我們將在墨西哥城推出“維珍玉米餅”。當然，壓根沒有這家公司，製造謠言不過就是爲了混淆視聽。於是，我邀請墨西哥的幾位知名博主吃了個午餐（當然，我們吃了玉米餅！），向他們介紹了我們的好幾名員工，並向他們耐心解釋我們的移動公司與其他競爭對手的不同之處。

I usually favor directness, but when it comes to dealing with competitors, sometimes your point can be better communicated through subtlety. The viral launch of BLAH Airlines earlier this year is a great example. Below a deeply uninspiring tagline that assures passengers that “you will get there,” BLAH’s clunky website lists a few “special” features on their flights like windows and armrests. This beige, bland, boring business also launched a six-hour video last month showing what every excruciating minute on a BLAH Airlines flight was like.

我一向直截了當，但是在與競爭對手打交道的時候，稍微採取一些策略有時能更好地達到溝通的效果。今年早些時候BLAH Airlines（指維珍航空的廣告中虛擬的一家航空公司，暗指其競爭對手）的病毒式營銷就是一個很好的例子。在BLAH Airlines簡陋的網站上，“You will get there（你會到達那裏）”的標語顯得非常沒有創意，下面則列舉了其航班一堆的“特別”之處，例如窗戶及扶手。這間以米黃色爲主色調、平淡無奇、令人乏味的公司，還在上個月推出了時間長達六個小時的視頻，暗示着在BLAH Airlines航班上的每一分鐘是如何度日如年。

People quickly realized that Virgin America was behind the whole thing. Many said that BLAH reminded them of our real-life rivals and highlighted how different Virgin America is. With some imagination and subtlety, our team was able to get one over on the competition — without mentioning any company by name.

人們很快就意識到，維珍美國航空公司（Virgin America）是這一整個事件的幕後推手。不少民衆表示，BLAH讓他們聯想到我們真實的競爭對手，並且突出了維珍美國航空的與衆不同之處。只要憑藉一點這樣的想象力和高超的策略，我們的團隊就能夠在競爭中脫穎而出——而且無需提及任何競爭對手公司的名稱。

Indeed, the aviation industry is one that thrives on competition. Virgin Australia’s battles with Qantas are well-documented, as is Virgin Atlantic’s long-standing rivalry with British Airways. In fact, our efforts to establish Virgin Atlantic as the leading airline in the U.K. has certainly gotten under British Airways’ skin. After their well-known “dirty tricks” campaign against us in the 1990s – which included passenger poaching and planting hostile stories in the press against Virgin — we sued them and eventually settled out of court. The proceeds were all distributed to our staff in what became known as the “BA Christmas Bonus”!

的確，航空業是一個因競爭而興盛的行業。維珍澳洲航空公司（Virgin Australia）與澳洲航空公司（Qantas）的對決早有大量資料可循，而維珍大西洋航空公司（Virgin Atlantic）與其競爭對手英國航空公司（British Airways）多年來的歷史恩怨同樣出名。事實上，我們希望將維珍大西洋航空公司打造成爲英國行業領頭羊的努力，確實讓英國航空公司如坐鍼氈。在上世紀九十年代，英國航空向我們實施了一個人盡皆知的“詭計”——包括指使乘客向維珍航空潑髒水，並通過媒體肆意傳播捏造的故事，對此，我們向法院提起了訴訟，並最終獲勝。這一事件在我們員工內部得到廣泛傳播，我們戲稱這是“英國航空的聖誕禮物”！

Two years ago, Willie Walsh, who runs British Airways these days, reignited our rivalry by betting me that the Virgin Atlantic brand would disappear within five years. The twist? Whoever loses the bet will receive a kick in the groin from the winner.

兩年前，現掌管英國航空的威利o沃什再次發出挑釁，他和我打賭，五年之內會讓維珍大西洋航空在市場上消失。至於我們的賭注？勝利者將向失敗者的腹股溝狠狠踢上一腳。

Virgin Atlantic recently launched our new Dreamliners aircraft in Atlanta, and we livestreamed the first-ever concert over the Atlantic on one flight, so I couldn’t resist pointing out to Willie that we’re going from strength to strength. I advised him to invest in a strong pair of trousers!

最近，維珍大西洋航空在亞特蘭大正式推出了我們全新的夢幻客機。就在一架航班上，我們進行了大西洋上史無前例的音樂會實況直播。於是我忍不住提醒威利，我們的實力正在不斷增強，我建議他買條厚實點的褲子！

It’s not the first bet I’ve made with a competitor, and it won’t be the last. It’s a great way of maintaining a competitive spirit, standing your ground and, most importantly, having some fun along the way. Remember, take your competition seriously — but not yourself.

這不是我第一次和競爭對手打賭，也不會是最後一次。這是一種不錯的方式，可以使你保持競爭狀態，堅守自己的立場。還有最重要的就是，在這個過程中感受當中的樂趣。記住，你需要嚴陣以待的是競爭——而不是你自己。（財富中文網）