The Sad Reality of Entrepreneurship

Logo's

Competitors

Let's not sugarcoat the truth that sometimes comes with entrepreneurship; competitors. Whether you own or open a business, you will always have competitors. Some companies will be highly similar to yours, whereas others will be close but have a unique twist. We have seen companies take it to a new level by suing these similar companies, whereas others seem to ignore it and understand that this was likely to happen from the beginning.

Stealing someone else's idea and way of doing a successful business is wrong and sometimes against the law. So, at what point do you sue and get the law involved? Of course, this is a personal decision on whether or not someone should be sued for copying something you already created. This is seen in companies that are more unique and new. Having a new idea is valuable, and others want something like it too. If you own a floral business or dress shop, you are less likely to have someone copying you. However, you will have competitors.

If you own a bakery, restaurant, or some business that uses recipes, your business may run into this problem. Take the Krusty Krab, for instance. Even though it is a restaurant from a TV show, we can easily see that Plankton was trying to steal Mr. Krabs' secret recipe to improve his restaurant.

The Cookie Wars in Utah

The companies involved in the cookie wars

If you are not from Utah, you may not have heard of the cookie wars happening. A brief explanation of what precisely these wars would be, the famous Crumbl Cookies is suing not-so-famous Dirty Dough and Crave. All of these cookie companies originated in Utah. First, there was Crumbl and then Crave, and now Dirty Dough. It originally started with Crumbl claiming that these two other companies stole their design, logos, and packaging. It has since moved to Crumbl claiming that Dirty Dough stole their recipes.

No one knows if Dirty Dough did steal these recipes, but they are heavily saying they did not. They have had heavy proof to back this argument up. They have a professional chef who creates all their recipes, and they have provided other factual information.

As far as these companies' logos and packaging go, some similarities can be seen. They each involve a cookie or two in their logos. Even though this is similar, it is expected because they are cookie companies. When it comes to packaging Crumbl has always packaged its cookies in pink boxes. Dirty Dough packages in blue boxes and Crave in white boxes. They each chose to package the cookies in boxes that were the same color as their brand.

The Response

Dirty Dough store

In response to this lawsuit, Dirty Dough started making videos on social media, making fun of the whole process. They have come out claiming this entire thing to be ridiculous. Their videos have consisted of Crumbl sending spies into Dirty Dough to confirm their stealing recipes. As well as many other funny videos. They even compared it to pepperoni pizza, "Like sending pictures of a pepperoni pizza, putting them in a lawsuit, and say ‘Look, your pepperoni pizza looks mightly similar to mine’.”

Although Crave and Dirty Dough think this whole lawsuit is ridiculous, they have seen increased sales. Instead of hurting them, it has helped them immensely. It is up to say if this will be taken to the jury. Crumbl had some flaws, and their ideas weren't completely protected. This means nothing may come from this lawsuit against companies with similar logos, packaging, and cookie ideas.

Concluding Thoughts

Swig and Fiiz cups

Yes, we can all admit that these cookie companies are similar in some way or another. The fact that they all revolve around rotating cookies is no mystery to the everyday eye. However, they are all each a company with their own recipes. This isn't the first time we have seen a connection of ideas between many different companies. In Utah, there is a vast craving for soda shops that add mixins and sell snacks.

It all started with Swig, but since then, we have seen many more soda shops pop up. Such as Fiiz, Sodalicious, Quench it, and many more. It all started with Swig's idea and was made into more. If you visit all of these other soda shops, you will see similarities between how they run their store and how they serve their products. These connections are made because how else are they to serve a drink if not in a cup? It is a pretty standard idea to do it that way.

They will also have similar soda options at each one with a range depending on which one you go to. Someone had a brilliant idea, and another altered it and made it into their own. Since Crumbl did not correctly take the procedures to protect their vision and recipes, it may not be an issue for the jury.

Before going into business, take the proper steps to protect your idea if that is important to you. If that does not worry you, then be aware that someone may take that idea and alter it. There are so many brilliant ideas in this world that need to be heard and shown. Don't be afraid to take the world by surprise.