Here’s an example on how a small business can get traction from the efforts of the competition, simply by understanding who it is selling to.

Wanda’s Pie in the Sky is a small cafe/pie shop in Kensington Market, just three buildings down from our new offices. All coffee served at Wanda’s is organic and fair trade, freshly made. And appealing to the sensibilities of the market crowd by poking fun of the corporate behemoth that is Starbucks is most definitely a good idea.

This of course is the very same crowd that fought Nike tooth and nail when the sports retailer wanted to cash in on the unique cultural makeup of Kensington Market by opening a glitzy shop. It took three weeks for a surprised Nike to admit defeat and shelve any store opening plans indefinitely.

This little board is doing more than just mere advertising, it is sharing values.

It tells the world what the business believes in, what it stands for, what it is really selling. If somebody is the kind of person who identifies with these values, then chances are that they’ll feel good about buying their coffee there. For the business, these are the customers they are after, customers who will seek out small independent operations over and above the chain operations. Customers who share and identify with their values, customers who’ll return and customers who will tell others about their experience.

In short, just the kind of customers you’d want.