In the past, big companies consumed small companies, but today the fast eat the slow. Many used to suggest that competition was healthy and that it lead to innovation and creativity. That’s no longer the case. With this ever-changing world of technology, no company can merely compete. You must dominate your sector in every way possible. Never compete, 10X dominate.

Competition is defined as a struggle between organisms for food, space, and other vital requirements — a rivalry for supremacy. In business, two or more individuals, groups, or companies pursuing the same third party by increasing value is reactive. You may recall companies that are now competing for markets they once dominated, such as Blackberry, Sears, Kmart, GM, Microsoft and so on.

Domination, on the other hand, is defined as having a controlling influence, to exercise control over some activity; to be the most important or conspicuous person or thing; or to have a commanding position over. To reach massive wealth and massive success you must take your domination to a 10X level; 10X Domination!

Do you want to struggle and pursue, or do you want to influence and control?

When businesses compete, creativity is limited. Look at how Steve Jobs broke the mold with the iPhone and single-handedly destroyed all the other players in the industry. Companies now chase Apple!

When you seek to dominate a sector you must start with something you know you can own.

The great Jack Welch is famous for saying, “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.” Find a way to dominate an industry and be original! Make a list of what your competitors will not do and then do it!

No matter the market or industry, there are always ways to dominate. Here is an example of how I spun competition into domination in one of my businesses: I own over 3,400 rental units around the United States. One of the properties was being held back to terms offered by other properties in the same area. I asked the management company to give me a list of everything the competition was not willing to offer.

The most obvious thing was that there was a 12-pound pet limit. We quickly saw how we could be different. By enclosing all of the ground level units with fences, we were able to dominate the area by offering units to tenants with dogs of all sizes. I quickly found out the occupants were willing to pay more to have a place for their Rottweiler, Great Dane, or Mastiff.

Regardless of your size and budget, you can always find a way to dominatesome part of your industry, space or sector once you commit to the concept.

Let’s say you are considering advertising, but have a limited budget. Cover the neighborhood; blanket it; smother it. Use ever means possible: post cards, mailers, letters, email and knock on doors. Repeat the activity until no one else wants to play in your space — then expand. Take the limits you think are massive and then write down new ones that are 10 times larger!

Companies like Starbucks and Apple started out small with the goal to develop loyal customers. When they started, they delivered great products and a great customer experience — then they expanded. Now they are worldwide with people willing to wait in long lines to pay a premium for their products. The companies who fully own their space chose domination over competition.

Give up the idea of competing:

Be willing to do what others refuse to do.

Maybe your competition is cutting back on hours or not open on Mondays. That’s your time to expand and conquer the territory. While they sleep, you dominate. Most companies have norms and traditions that limit them — break them all. If Apple followed the traditions of Blackberry, do you think we would have smart phones like we do today? Become the known expert in your space.

A number of high-ranking social experts ranked me as the #1 sales training coach to follow (@GrantCardone) on Twitter. Four years ago I didn’t even have a Twitter account. However, once I created one I decided to own the sector for sales and business advice. Over 65-thousand Tweets later I have close to 270,000 followers.

Social media offers great opportunities for the dominating mindset because it’s inexpensive and without usage limits.

I did the same with YouTube by posting over 2,400 sales training and coaching videos. I now have over 89,000 subscribers and over 13.7m views on my channel. My “competitors” thought I was foolish for giving away free content on YouTube. Can you guess where most of my business comes from today? YouTube.

Think differently. Don’t think in terms of competing. See what everyone else is doing and blaze new trails.

That’s how you 10X Dominate.

Be great, nothing else pays… much,

GC

Grant Cardone is a New York Times best-selling author, speaker, motivator, sales training expert and self-made American success story. His digital network, books, sales training programs, and seminars provide people of all professional backgrounds with the practical tools necessary to build their own economies towards the path to true freedom.

“Success is your duty, obligation, responsibility.” GC

Grant created Cardone University, a customized sales training program for Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, success-minded individuals, and entrepreneurs.