From: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/bizwomen/

Pop culture reminds us — not so intelligently — that #hatersgonnahate.

It’s a phenomenon that doesn’t just affect celebs and sports stars. Entrepreneurs have their haters, too.

Author and entrepreneur Jay Baer encourages us to “hug our haters” as part of a “hatrix” that should guide a company’s response to critics. Great advice for complaints and negative reviews.

But the journey of an entrepreneur is often marked by a more insidious stream of “haters” — haters that seek to diminish your dream company, erect their own brand in your stead, and otherwise dismantle the business you are building. If you haven’t experienced this yet, stay the entrepreneurial course for any substantial amount of time and you will.

Let’s not mince words: Entrepreneurs are a defiant bunch. If we weren’t, life in a cubicle — showing up on someone else’s schedule and dressing according to someone else’s idea of professional — would be far preferable to the often daunting life of a self-bosser. But we choose freedom. Freedom to be ruthlessly courageous and authentic. Freedom to work our own way, set our own fees, chart our own path. Freedom from the “because I said so” and “this is just how it’s done” insanity.

The thing is, this unapologetic defiance and determination will breed success and visibility — and haters. As is happening on both sides of the political aisle, these haters will at times sling mud without regard to the truth. They might swipe your web copy, your event idea, make an attempt at usurping your hard-won position in the market, undercut your pricing, or market directly to your customers with a “switch to us” message.

But you don’t have to play victim to the hate. Here’s how to leverage the haters you’ll encounter — now or later — in your own business.

First things first, don’t take it personally.

Because I’ve been in business for nearly two decades, I’ve been to the underbelly of the business world and can report, it ain’t pretty.

I once saw a physician buy the domain name of her associate upon learning that he was leaving to start his own practice. I’ve witnessed a neighborhood restaurant ruthlessly sabotage a competitor’s opening day.

The bottom line is this: Success is a bright light, and bright lights sometimes attract a nuisance population.

But it’s not personal. It’s competition. Expect it, and then…

Use the competition — and your haters — for fuel.

True entrepreneurs feel themselves come alive, even inspired, under an attack from a competitor. They use haters as fuel.

Fuel to push them farther than they went yesterday, to do more than they’d ever accomplished before, allowing the competition to serve as an invaluable asset to their business.

To do the same, you simply have to determine to do so. You must allow the threat to lead you back to the strategy room, invigorated and inspired.

With this approach, haters will have zero power. Stay the course and one day you’ll arrive at your destination knowing that they were instead the wind in your sails.