A lot of business experts, business books and business start-up courses will tell you to look for a business opportunity with little or no competition. As a result budding entrepreneurs spend ages looking for new business ideas, trying to find the elusive new idea that no one else has thought of. Unfortunately doing so is a waste of time. For a start it’s very hard to find a genuinely new business idea. Then if you do find an idea, few investors or bankers are willing to invest in or lend money to a business pursuing a completely new business opportunity, because they will view it as being too risky.
When it comes to choosing which business opportunity to pursue you as an entrepreneur should be focusing on what interests you, what drives you and what assets/skills you have that can be applied to the opportunity. When it comes to evaluating the opportunity you should be looking for competitors. If you can’t find any competitors then either you’re not looking hard enough, you don’t understand the market well enough or your business opportunity is a very probably a bad idea – which is why no one else is doing it.
What really matters is not the number of competitors but the quality of them. So don’t worry about having lots of competitors, instead worry about how you’re going to be better than them.
This blog is about business opportunities and ideas that I spot, think of or hear about and think are useful and interesting. It is intended to provide ideas and inspriation for you to help you find the right business idea for you to then grow it into a successful business.
“Don’t Worry About The Number Of Competitors” reminds me of a story about two guys in the forest being chased by a bear.
As they are running along, one guy says to the other “to survive this you’re going to have to outrun the bear”, to which his mate replied “No, I’m just going to have to outrun you”!
At the end of the day, if you have the best product/ service it doesn’t matter how many competitors there are in the chase.
Steve W
Hi John,
Well said I completly agree with you there. The other day driving past my main road and there must be atleast 15 takeaways just on that stretch of road. But the thing that gets me there are in direct competition but seem to do be doing fine as they have been there for a number of year.
It really depends if there is a demand for your product or services and thats the best way to go on and think about it, maybe soo there are many takeaways on one road but there is still a demand if there wasnt they wouldnt had lasted long….
Steve,
Unfortunately having the best product/service doesn’t always result in success, it can contribute to running a better business though and then the number of competitors doesn’t really matter.
Moyo,
In some cases being near your competitors is beneficial i.e. electronics shops on Tottenham Court Road in London and takeaways in your local area by the sounds of it
Competition will always be there, even if you find a new invention, there will always be someone to come along and copy that invention its just really a matter of time. As you have said before John being the second or the third in the business can prove to be very good, as you wont be spending much money on research. Which I think is spot on!
Also you could have the right business idea, the right product/services. But in my opinion what really matters is how you put that into action.
Agreed to misquote Thomas Edison, creating a successful business is “1% inspiration and 99% perspirationâ€.
It’s all in the execution of the idea, not the idea itself.
I totally agree, trying to start with a business concept that’s entirely new, can be time consuming and a big risk, therefore you won’t get much support from banks and investors. But if it takes off, then it becomes a very successful venture because it’s original and unique.
I agree competition should not be seen as a threat because many of them will not be particularly good any way and competition helps you stay on your toes and gives you motivation to improve your service/products and stay ahead of the pack
What ever your product/service is, you simply have to do it better than the competition.