It may run counter to what the top business schools teach, but there is such a thing as overthinking the competition. Before you get bogged down in what everyone else is doing, ask yourself these questions:
- Are you aware of the competition?
- Do you see an opportunity to sprint past it?
- Do you have what it takes to lead the charge?
If you can answer yes to all of these questions, you don’t need to spend any more time studying, worrying about, or even thinking much about the competition. You’ve already gleaned the game-changing knowledge you need — if it was there for the taking to begin with — and you’re ready to move forward building your own successful enterprise.
Too many people get stuck on what everybody else is doing. But guess what happens when you’re focused on the competition? You get distracted from blazing your own trail. The result? Delaying or even preventing your startup success altogether.
Of course, if you’re a mature company in a mature, vertical then keeping an eye on the competition is extremely important. But when you’re a startup creating your own vertical, taking the lead requires letting go of what’s behind — and next to — you. To be disruptive, you must disrupt.
Want to know the worst part about “following” the competition? If you’re following, that means you’re behind. You’re reacting to your business instead of leading it.
What if, in lieu of worrying about the competition, you concentrated on maximizing your startup’s value and product differentiation? What if you spent your time building and strengthening relationships with customers to earn their repeat business? When you commit to growing, evolving, and constantly improving, competition doesn’t matter. You’ll either win or you won’t.
Think about it:
Long before Google and even Yahoo, there was AltaVista, Lycos, and WebCrawler.
Long before Tesla, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, and Toyota all produced electric vehicles.
Even the Wright brothers had global competitors as they joined the race to flight. Yet somehow, two bicycle shop owners from Dayton, Ohio created and powered the world’s first airplane.
Of course you should be aware of the competitive landscape, but don’t get caught up in it. The presence of competition is not a deal-killer, but getting distracted by them is. If anything, competition is proof that there is something of value to pursue, something to hustle for.
Sergey and Larry knew it.
Elon knew it.
So did Orville and Wilbur.
Now you do, too — so make it happen.
