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In most cases there is competition - and more than you realize - and that initial reaction, especially when you're racing to launch, can be frightening. That's the "holy crap" reaction.
"Someone beat us to it."
"Someone stole our idea."
That's a very typical reaction when you haven't launched your own business. Once you've launched, I think your reaction to competition would be different.
:P
Having said that, when looking at competition, you could look at how many customers they have, and who they are. One of the failings of many startups I've seen of late is that they launch with much fanfare but not much in the way of customers. For startups that need critical mass (i.e. lots of customers/traffic/etc.) to be successful, that's a tough road. Yes, many can start small, but in some spaces there is a chicken and egg dilemma.
So customers do count. And they do pay the bills. So it's all about them. But in this context, it's all about you... *smile*
Then, I just said to myself, "my the best company win" and I just focus on my company and what I can do to make things better for my customers.
The WOW factor will only carry you so far, the rest is pure execution, and that's the key differentiator.
When faced with the sudden shock of competition, just look inward, remember why you're doing what you're doing, why what you're doing is great and keep doing it.
Today I showed it to a investor over instant message. He liked the idea, but said the market isn't ready for that yet. HuH???? This is an investor who has invested in Napster, Skype and Joost type technologies. Was the market ready for them?
http://www.techavid.com
Thanks for the post!
I remember having this exact same Holy Crap reaction about a month ago related to a new fundraising initiative I was starting.
The creepy part is though, the competition was my age (under 25), went to the same Uni as myself, and (amazingly) was the brainchild of a good friend of mine's arch nemesis! I heard about it through another friend.
The timing and circumstances were completely bizarre.
*sorry for multiple post, a less than sign killed off the rest of my original post
Greg - I feel like that guy under the desk quite a bit too, although it's irritating in some ways to admit it...
sorry! "environmental scanning" is, for smaller firms at least, the process of monitoring their marketplace for opportunities and threats in the larger view, and to avoid the "gee, I didn't know that" response in a sales call (about a competing product or service) in the smaller view -
Brian
That said, I still felt my writing ability held my own against theirs--even if some of my competition had slicker packaging. For me, it's added incentive to get a pro designer.