What Should We do When Other Business Owners Ask for Proprietary Information?

Alright, bear with me on this one. This post is not meant as an attack or an accusation, but rather for a twofold purpose: 1. As an educational post that my fellow makers can share with newer small biz owners who genuinely don't know better, and 2. As an opportunity to open up a discussion on how to have the uncomfortable conversations when we feel the line is being crossed by those reaching out to us to ask for information about our business.

Being a business owner, especially one who is a "maker," is a forever growing and learning experience. The processes that we utilize today are all informed by lessons we have learned and experiences we have had up to this point. As such, every business owner's experience is unique, and their brand and products are uniquely molded by these experiences. Unless a business is outright trying to copy another, no two should be alike because they have all gone through different things to get where they are.

If you've been running your brand for any length of time, you've probably received inquiries that, to put it simply, are uncomfortable. I, for example, have been asked where I source my shipping envelopes and beads from, how I design my graphics, and how I developed my social media strategy. All of these are things I figured out on my own through research and trial and error, and that process is part of what makes my brand what it is.

So, the question is ... how do we respond to these inquiries? I never want to come off as rude, snobby, or unhelpful, but the fact of the matter is, everything that I have learned, all of the products I have sourced, and all of the processes that I use are essentially proprietary to my business and I protect them to keep my brand as unique as possible. My response is usually to *kindly* tell the person inquiring to do some research on the subject, and I may even mention that that is how I learned to run my own business. 90% of the time the response I receive is unenthusiastic but polite, and in the rare occasion that the person asking keeps pushing or is rude, I feel fully within my rights to cut off communication.

I do want to clarify that I don't believe in not helping fellow small business owners at all. I've been in constant contact with fellow makers recently about events that we know about so that we can all try to get out in front of shoppers as much as possible. I've shared a hack I learned for buying and printing postage at a discount from home. I've talked about what platform I use to sell my products and why I left my previous platform. None of these things have any influence on my branding, and I am more than happy to share information for the betterment of my fellow small business owners. I have been supported in this way too.

What about my fellow small biz owners, how do you handle situations where you are asked for proprietary knowledge that you do not choose to share?