Identifying The Competition - RD253

<h2>Their competition might not be who they think it is.</h2> <p>Have you ever heard the term “The Curse Of Knowledge?” According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wikipedia</a>, The Curse Of Knowledge is a cognitive bias that occurs when an individual, communicating with other individuals, unknowingly assumes that the others have the background to understand.</p> <blockquote> <h3><strong>Curse Of Knowledge:</strong> A cognitive bias that occurs when an individual, communicating with other individuals, unknowingly assumes that the others have the background to understand.</h3> </blockquote> <p class="p1">You see this a lot with instructors. The instructor is so familiar with a subject that they forget the person or people they are instructing don’t have the same background and therefore might not understand their teaching them.</p> <p class="p1">Like a web designer giving a presentation to a group of fellow web designers and falsely assuming they all know CSS. Where in fact, some of the web designers may use Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy Web Builder or Webflow. Platforms where knowledge of CSS is not necessary.</p> <p class="p1">Why am I talking about the Curse of Knowledge? It’s because, as graphic and web designers, we sometimes take for granted that our clients know what we know. Especially when it comes to identifying the competition. But let me tell you. Many, if not the majority of clients, don’t have the background and knowledge that we do and therefore fail in their competition identification.</p> <p class="p1">Case in point. I'm a member of a grant approval panel for my local Business Enterprise Centre. Every year, our BEC receives government funding and hands out grants to help new businesses start and get off the ground. The grant process requires each applicant to have a business plan, a three-year financial forecast, and a presentation to the grant approval panel saying why they believe they should receive a grant.</p> <p class="p1">Over the past