Why would I want to collaborate with my competition?

Honestly the only collaboration I've done with competition in the past has been purely reciprocal where our businesses are kept separate, but where one can not do something an other covers down. Catering wise, if i was free and they were short handed I would help or pass a reliable workers phone number to them, and vice versa, or when they had too much stuff on their plate id get a referral and so on forth. Its not like we were outright competing with each other as much as the other way bigger players in the same field.

But mixing business? Fuuck that. Not to even mention having to relinquish control, or cut ones own compensation. Nope.. just nope.

I have a hard time believing that he would propose this to a male who was operating a successful business, because that would be insulting to a man.

Honestly it happens too, there are some super tone deaf jackasses out there. The sexism often goes hand in hand with other prejudices, self entitlement, and a tendency to look down on others. Have run in to it many time in multiple fields where some arrogant jackass has an attitude of "everyone else is less competent than I" which is not based on any form of realistic analysis of reality, but does lead to all sorts of irritating BS like being down talked to, or belittled in conversations etc. They view such as a "power move" to try and establish some type of nonexistent dominance in a conversation as if it gave them some kind of an advantage. It doesn't, and the only thing these people do is alienate people.

f you're a woman who has these same issues, please share. If you're a man, please don't be offended, but maybe take a moment to remind yourself that women are your equals and their businesses are just as valid as yours.

Just as a side note, to expand on this as its not purely a men towards women thing, but does happen the other way around too, and at times may be something like "self sexism" if there is such a thing. Pretty much all of it seems to involve arrogant prejudiced jackasses more so than anything gender based outright. As an example of what I've run in to in the past as well that involves similar sexism.

Had a lady in a shared catering rental space who kept having car battery problems and was loudly complaining about having to call AAA every time. We were chatting and i asked her if she though about getting a backup battery jumper kit to have in her van. Her response to paraphrase "I'm a woman, and not a car mechanic"... made 0 sense and the following week was still complaining about the car battery as it had died on site again. Just shrugged my shoulders and let that be.

Have worked in shops where assorted leadership has had a very simple rule "if its heavy lifting make the men do it", so when deliveries came in it was the men's job to put things away, trash needed hauling again the men's assigned job, snow needed shoveling? Male workers duty. Had a coworker with a bad back get told by the kitchen manager lady to "man up" when he refused to lift heavy boxes to put stuff away. He literally couldn't do it and got belittled and reprimanded for it. He had a doctors note limiting that type of duty and everything.

Have worked under both great female and male leadership, but also super prejudiced and toxic people from both genders.