Hi - I think I’ve kinda asked this question before in a roundabout kind of way.
For people who ‘fear’ the competition and think they’ll never be better that what’s out in the market, would it be safe or dangerous to ignore the competition?
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I have no idea who my “competition” is and I don’t lose sleep over it, Sell yourself not your fear of what someone else is doing. They are probably doing pretty much what you are anyway.
It’s very important to understand what the competition is doing. Try creating a diagram of what they have and see if you find a trend or weaknesses or opportunity.
Remember, the 2nd mouse gets the cheese!
Absolutely be obsessed with the competition, especially if they’ve been at the problem longer than you have, you can use them to see-
- Who’s the ideal customer
- What’s the right price for the market
- Who invested and for how much
- What feature people like
- What UX works well
- What marketing strategy works well
- How to develop content and what seo words to focus on
- How to build community and who the advocates are
- What ppl complain about or criticise
There’s loads of beneficial reasons why looking at competitors is a great idea, it’s weird to not want to do it.
It is very dangerous to ignore the competition, you need to monitor everything they do, and see if you can improve upon it there for adding value and making your business unique. If you’re going to start a business, write a business plan part of that is examining the competition.
Ignoring the competition can give you the freedom to create some groundbreaking ideas without being bogged down by what everyone else is doing. However, it comes with risks like missing market trends and valuable feedback. A balanced approach, staying selectively aware of the competition, ensures you benefit from both creative independence and valuable market insights.
It’s about finding that sweet spot between doing your own thing and keeping an ear out for what the people want.
I would definitely look at the competition. It will serve two purposes.
First, you can see the sorts of things they’re doing that you like so you don’t have to recreate the wheel.
Second, you could see the things that you don’t like and look for opportunities to differentiate yourself by doing it better or different.