Other than clients, Smith has relied on "people who offer different services to the same client base" for information that has helped her to stay ahead of her competitors.

Milk

Sharon Smith of Peterborough, N.H., helps small and medium-sized businesses to develop and document their growth models. She thinks milking competitors for information about themselves is a futile proposition, so she usually doesn't bother to try. "You'd think that the best source of competitive information would be your competitors," Smith says, "but since [they are competitors], they may not be real eager to share the kinds of things you need to know."

Smith finds that clients, on the other hand, are a more accessible source of competitive information. A book packager wanted Smith to quote a single, bottom-line fee before awarding her a project. The client volunteered that other consultants she'd used had arrived at their fee by adding their hourly rate to expenses incurred and then marking up the total by a certain percentage. "She wasn't telling me the amount I could charge, but [rather] a variety of approaches that would be acceptable to her," says Smith.

Other than clients, Smith has relied on bankers -- "people who offer different services to the same client base" -- for information that has helped her to stay ahead of her competitors.

"For example, I talked last week with a banker who suggested that I target CPAs because he thinks a lot of people turn to their CPA when they need to come up with business plans. And while the CPAs might be willing to handle that kind of thing when business is slow, they're more likely to want to off-load it if the request comes during tax season. In other words, out of the range of business planning and analysis services I'm offering, the banker was telling me that he thinks one of the strongest markets is for help in writing business plans." In short, the banker pointed out to Smith that a need wasn't being met -- by her or by her competitors -- and hence suggested how she could grow her own business.

Despite her reservations, Smith has found at least one type of competitor to be forthcoming with valuable information -- former ones. "I've also gotten great tips from someone who was leaving the consulting business to take a full-time job," says Smith.

Mind Games: Don't Think of Them as Competitors

Unlike Smith and Steiner, graphic designer Joanna Ralston avoids naked competition altogether. She divides other graphic designers into two camps -- friends and foes. Three years ago, when she began her freelance career in Vermont, "I got to find out who was more of the 'spy' group and who was more of the 'yes, I can see you're a professional' group," she says. "[The latter] are the people I prefer to work with."

By relying on the friendly folks and ignoring the foes, Ralston transforms would-be competitors into colleagues. When she first went into business for herself, she identified the other designers who shared her collegial business attitude by calling them and asking for a chance to meet.

"I didn't start out saying, 'Got any work?'" she says. "I said, 'Hey, here's who I am.' I just wanted to meet other graphic designers, not really to pump them for information. There were a lot of people whose work I respected, and I wanted to meet them. If that led to any work, that would be great -- [but] I don't like to spy, because it comes back at you." In this way, Ralston established herself both as an open, non-threatening newcomer and, eventually, as part of a group that provides its members with the type of competitive information that other independent professionals have to get by more stealthy means.

By her own admission, of course, Ralston's anti-competitive attitude has cost her some jobs. "I had an interesting situation where I applied for a job doing printed material for one of the local colleges," she says. "A friend of mine asked me if I'd mind if she applied for the same job. I don't worry about these situations, I figure the best person is going to get the job anyway. She ended up getting the job. The way I look at it, there's plenty of work to go around. It just meant there was another job for me down the line, and there was."

Essentially, Ralston prefers to be part of a trusting and diverse freelance graphic design community rather than part of a paranoid one. "We all do so many different things that there isn't a lot of competition," she says. "What there is is a free exchange of information. We'll ask each other: 'Did you ever run across this situation, and if so, what did you do?' We've shared billing information and tax questions. I can't imagine doing it any other way."

Independent professionals deal with the competitive aspects of business in different ways. Some find excitement and economic advantage in knowing as much as they can about their business rivals, by whatever means available; others prefer to reserve their time and energy for the work of their trade itself. In the end, however, whether you view your competitors as villains or colleagues, you're still in competition with them. Business is business.