????本文是與《創業者》雜志（Entrepreneur）的合作內容。下文最初發表于Entrepreneur.com。

????要想取得商業上的成功，就要勇于迎接競爭——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，你就掌握了成功的秘訣。

????而實際情況往往是，企業經營者們對競爭對手的舉動過于關注。創辦一家企業有許多工作要做，很容易就會認為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。正是出于這個原因，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，并竭力想出好的解決辦法的時候，出色的點子就會冒出來。

????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于人后，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，消費者為什么要買你的呢？提出遠大的理想，努力創新，并集中精力開發新的產品或服務，你的公司也會成為別人爭相模仿的優秀企業。

????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為激烈的對抗。應對這種事態的關鍵在于，懂得什么時候要表明立場，什么時候要一笑以置之。

????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）的發布會。在我抵達之前，一位競爭對手大肆制造謠言，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，制造謠言不過就是為了混淆視聽。于是，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，并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。

????我一向直截了當，但是在與競爭對手打交道的時候，稍微采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（你會到達那里）”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。這間以米黃色為主色調、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，暗示著在BLAH Airlines航班上的每一分鐘是如何度日如年。

????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后推手。不少民眾表示，BLAH讓他們聯想到我們真實的競爭對手，并且突出了維珍美國航空的與眾不同之處。只要憑借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。

????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為英國行業領頭羊的努力，確實讓英國航空公司如坐針氈。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臟水，并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，并最終獲勝。這一事件在我們員工內部得到廣泛傳播，我們戲稱這是“英國航空的圣誕禮物”！

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

????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.

????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.

????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.

????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.

????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.

????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.

????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.

????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”!