We don’t have any competition

By Rajesh Setty on Sat 01 Apr 2006, 9:53 PM - 4 Comments

Sometimes new entrepreneurs think that they have such a brilliant idea that nobody else in the world is doing anything similar to what they are doing. In other words, they say they don’t have any competition. Think about it. One reason there is no competition is truly because you have got something so unique, nobody else in the world thought about it. That is one possibility, of course. However, there are other possibilities as well. Here are some of them:

• Someone else thought about it and realized that some flaw in the business model

• Someone else thought about it, conducted market research and found that there was not a big enough market for that product or service.

• Someone else thought about it, executed and failed in that attempt.

• Someone else thought about it and is currently executing on the plan but you don’t know about it. That someone may be in a garage or part of a department in a large organization.

In the VC world people silently laugh when they hear “We don’t have competition.” It may be a possibility but the chances of that happening for the right reasons are the same as the chances of you winning a lottery ticket.

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Anonymous on April 3rd, 2006

Could ‘technology’, as a barrier, be a reason why there is no competition? Can it be said in these times that technology is not a barrier?
I actually have an idea (I am not saying that its good/bad/ugly ) but dont know hot to technologically handle it without incurring huge costs.. I am willing to share this with you, if interested.

Anonymous on April 3rd, 2006

Hello there:
First, thank you for reaching out.
I don’t know your name so I don’t know how to address you
Of course, you can share your idea with me. I am open to hearing it.
However, think about your idea long and hard. Ask some of the questions to yourself:
1) Is this solving a problem?
2) Is this solving a problem for which someone is willing to pay a price?
3) Do you know who will pay for it?
4) If yes, how big is the market?
If the answers for all the above are still compelling, what could you do to convince a few people to join you in this journey to think through and make it happen?
All the best to you.
Cheers,
Rajesh

Anonymous on April 4th, 2006

I’ve been reading “The Innovators Solution” by Clayton Christensen. This book outlines that an innovator has a higher chance of success if he picks a product (or disruptive innovation) that can be marketed to
(a) Customers that have not been addressed by any established player (In which case you would have little competition).
(b) Customers who are expendable to established players (In which case the established players would be happy to exit this low margin business and allow the innovator to flourish).
Isn’t there anything to be said for an innovation that defines a new market?
I do agree with the rest of the points you have raised. Great Post!

Anonymous on April 4th, 2006

Excellent points there.
There are always exceptions to the rules. Take a look at the book “Blue Ocean Strategy” that talks about playing in uncontested marketplaces.
The problems with navigating unchartered territories is simply that your competition will not be another player but “status quo.” Before you entered into this marketplace, things were happening and the “customers” need to have a strong reason to do something else. They need a very big incentive to change their current behaviors.
Lastly, we all know that timing plays a very important role in all these things.
Cheers,
Rajesh