I am going to start a new series called “Business Power-Ups.”  The term “power-up” comes from video games – a power-up would give your player instant benefits or add extra abilities.  I grew up playing Atari 2600, Colecovision, Nintendo, and then Playstation.  How many hours did I spend playing Super Mario Bros?  It was alot.  But hey, I have a ninja’s hand-eye coordination now!

Business Power-Ups are going to give you extra business powers and abilities! They’re like magic mushrooms for business.  (The non-hallucinogenic kind.)

Business Power-Up #1 – order from your competitors.  If you sell a product, or even possibly a service, place a small order from your main competitors.  It’s amazing what you can learn.  Back when I new nothing about the tee business, before Rizzo Tees opened, I ordered tees from Busted Tees, SnorgTees, Sackwear and Threadless.  I learned:

1.) Who they used to print their postage (Snorg used Endicia, whom I am using now.)

2.) What kinds of bags they used – size, material. I then found a super-cheap supplier on eBay – ValueMailers.  I can highly recommend them.  No affiliate link here – just trying to help.

3.) What kinds of schwag they put in their packages. I put a sample of Bacon Salt in each of my orders, which clearly trumps all of them!

4.) How quickly they shipped their orders

5.) Their approximate order volume (email me if you want to know how I figured that out)

6.) What sort of packing slip they put in the bag

And I learned all this for the price of a few t-shirts.  Placing orders with your competitors can yield a great deal of business intelligence.