“It’s really important not to create a business without competition.” – Unknown
Starting a new business is one of the most challenging things you can do. Unless you’re in it for the pain (possible), it makes sense to try to reduce your risk and difficulty level.
Would solving the problems of your prospects mean creating a completely new paradigm? Would it disrupt an industry? Are there competitors already solving that pain in one way or another?.
If you’re going into a new market (or re-segmenting a market) and solving a new need with a new business model, you’ll have to educate the market on three different parts of your model.
If that’s your plan, find investors and plan for a long runway. Success is possible, but very difficult. If there are no competitors, ask yourself why there are no competitors.
Solving a problem that requires market education can lead to great opportunities if it buys you first-mover advantage, but be aware that it greatly increases your risk and that markets are rarely dominated by first-movers.
The technology history books are dominated by successful second, third and fourth market entrants (think Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn). While the first-mover spends money on market education and creating a need, the emerging competitors learn, build, adapt and come in for the win.
Unless you have something really hard to replicate, competitors will always copy. Be careful if your solution requires too much market education. Beware of businesses without competition!
More on Businesses Without Competition
- Substitute Products: What Solution is Your B2B Product Really Replacing?
- Innovation Consultant Rene Bastijans on Uncovering Your Product’s True Competition
- 3 Reasons Why B2B SaaS Companies Fail to Scale Past Early Adopters
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