There is a saying that an open mouth catches no flies. According to a successful businessman that I talked to, an open mouth makes no competitors. To explain further he said: “If you got a good thing going just keep quiet about it and let it play.”

The problem with being successful is that you attract other people who would like to do what you are doing, competition is a given, but worse are those who like to profit from you without breaking a sweat. He recounted an event where some “regulators” invited him for a meeting, just in time for lunch, and he ended up paying for the bill. Of course he had it coming because he was already “big” in his business field. Had he just been starting, that meal would have burned a hole in his wallet.

Competition is what business people must always contend with, you can’t always fight off people entering your niche. But being alone in your market long enough to conquer market share and first mover advantage is well worth keeping your mouth shut about your success. Eventually the time will come when you can’t hide it anymore, but at least you will be well placed and stable already in your niche to easily fend off competition.

Now you might be saying : How will we market and advertise our product without opening our mouths? Well do you really have to place a figure as to how much you are raking in with your product? Well if not, no need. If there is a need, make it a ball park figure.

Competition comes in many forms, the worst kind are those from people you thought you could trust. Competition like that is like a train wreck, something you couldn’t foresee. As the saying goes, when money comes into play throw all friendships and loyalties out the window: suspect everybody. Guard your “secret sauce” with your life, because the fate of your company depends greatly on it.

If you notice, a lot of these hi tech companies do their manufacturing abroad where the labor is cheap. But most of their wafer and R&D work is done in the own country. Why is that? its because their “secret sauce” is the technology to make the wafer. Manufacturing is nothing but slicing and dicing wafers and assembling the parts together. That is technology whose loss is acceptable to them because its not their core business.

That is also the value of finding loyal subordinates. The value of a loyal employee is worth more than a cheap one. Because in the end you could lose a lot in terms of profit. A disgruntled employee could easily be the cause of your downfall.