Working with competitors (web development)

flyingsheep

Hi,

I am involved in a web development company. We were approached by someone to do a very small amount of work on his website. Just some technical changes and adjustments. We have been working on this but its not live yet.

In the mean time there has been another relatively large project in the pipeline. They have since contacted us and said they wanted to go ahead with it.

Both companies do some similar things but we hadnt given it too much thought. Well that was the case until the first company actually sent a screenshot of something "from a competitor" that they liked. This competitor happened to be the second companies old site.

We really do pride ourselves on honesty and transparency but we are torn on this one and dont really know how to approach.

Several options below, which one do you think is best?

1. We ignore the situation and keep working, we provide a service and its as simple as that. Its not like we providing a marketing and branding strategy for them. Plus the first companies work was so small that we are making too much a big deal out of it.

That option would be well and good but the last thing we would want is for them to find out and think we are being deceitful, especially the second company. I dont think the first would mind too much because the amount of work involved is so small.

2. We tell the company with the bigger project and offer to sign an NDA and anything else we can do.

This option is all well and good but if they tell us they cant work with us as a result then it would be very disappointing considering we would have been trying to do the right thing.

3. We tell both companies, offer to sign NDAs and do everything right (ok this is kind of the same as option 2).

The company with the smaller job probably wont mind but the bigger company might.

At best everyone will be grateful for our transparency and wont see a problem with it.


Our concern is also that we are making way too big a deal out of this. There are many trades where a company simply provides a service without looking into this stuff, but there are many that are the opposite too, like if we were a marketing, SEO or branding company it would obviously be a huge no no.

We dont really know what category we fall into.

The irony of it is , when we are trying to get a sale the potential client generally likes to see examples of similar type companies we would have worked with before!!

Buttercake

1. We ignore the situation and keep working

^ This, I would say its very rare that a situation like this would arise but it shouldn't affect your creativity or work..

If you were an architect and they were comparing buildings, you wouldn't think any different and work on the respective projects. They may have looked at your portfolio and simply liked the site.

I wouldn't get involved in NDAs especially with small businesses, you run the risk of damaging your relationship(s) if you get NDAs involved over a business website.

k.p.h

You should focus your sales team towards the industry you are developing for as you are now an expert in it

pedroeibar1

It is nice to see that there still are some out there who consider business ethics important.:)

Company A gives you a small job, you’re doing it.
Company B gives you a big job, you need to get on with it.
Company A likes an idea from the OLD site of B and wants you to implement it.

Why should there be a perceived problem? Lidl, Aldi, Dunnes, Tesco, Supervalue all get branded product from the same suppliers. Even for their own-label items the product usually comes out of the same factory, albeit with slightly different recipes. You are doing something similar.

If Company A or Company B were that fussed about your skills and wanted exclusivity, they would pay you a retainer to work solely for them in their particular sector. Neither has, so you are free to work with whoever you please PROVIDED you do not make use of inside information from A to the detriment of B (or vice-a-versa).

Do not raise the matter, treat it as a routine business event and if either says anything you respond “There’s no conflict; we now work for lots in this sector because we are leaders in our field”. Any further question is answered by “Sorry, we never, ever, discuss the work we do for other clients.”

As others have said above, no NDAs and work on expanding your niche, you obviously are doing something right..

flyingsheep

Thanks folks! Some great advice here which to be honest its looking like we'll take. We're starting to feel perhaps we were indeed reading into it way too much alright, especially with the idea of NDAs.

ishotjr2

Hi

I would just mention that ethics plays a strange role in a business, it is strange because the benefits come from unexpected places. People say you need to be lucky in business etc... But I have seen when customers and staff see your values implemented in difficult decisions they will go the extra mile for you and want to associate with you and your brand. Apologies if the above is obvious to you. The hard part is making these decisions quickly.

EdenStudios

Have been in the same situation a few times. Initially I even turned down work due to a conflict of interest.
Eventually mentioned it to my client and he was impressed but was unnecessary. You can't expect to specialise in an area by working for a single client.

Having said that, there are some really good clients we work with that rely heavily on our expertise to drive leads through their site. I'd be more hesitant taking on a competing SEO or Adwords project in that instance. EG We'd have crucial insights into marketing strategies, keyword niches etc.