Of course a big question is how many companies your market can support. If it =1, you and that competitor ate existntial threats to ach other. If it's > 1 then you just need to win the segmenting game.

Sometimes, when you think somebody is your director competitor, they are actually not competitors in eyes of your customers or users. It is important to determine whether your users or customers think this company is your direct competitor.

Great article! I've encountered some of the same insights as I embarked on my journey to find the nearest competition for my idea. Many are close, but none on point. Finding competition definitely makes you refine your approach and your differentiator. In hindsight, it is probably the best thing that has happened to me thusfar.

To sdizdars point, your customers absolutely define who is the competition.

So glad for having read "Differentiate or Die!" by Trout in college to know the necessity of that great differentiator.

Competition is a _very_ good thing because it means there is a market for what you're selling.

Sure, you might have come up with the one great idea that nobody has thought of, but probably not. If nobody is doing it, there just may be a really good reason.

I've learnt this at university so take it with a grain of salt.

What kind of customers are your competitor targeting? Differentiate and target the other kind.

Don't assume your competitor has found the "right price".

And don't set your price higher than your competitor just because you think you provide a more valuable product. If you've already built your financial model with a lower price, there's no reason to not undercut your competitors.

This is good advice.

However don't assume that you have the right price either. Entrepreneurs often set their prices too low. For more on this see http://jacquesmattheij.com/Double+your+price+(and+no,+I%27m+....