After having started a project and suddenly having found new competition, how do you convince yourself to keep going?

Question

I understand this is a subjective question but I want to see how others dealt with this issue:

How do you convince yourself and your teammates while trying to start a business or a project and suddenly faced with competition, whether due to lack of research or entirely new startups, that we should keep going?

What are some motivational techniques, considering this quite specific situation?

I'm trying to learn this in advance before getting burned.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Find faults in the competition's project, and know you can do better. Competition is a good thing, not a bad thing, in this context. Without it, your efforts very well may be slower and less innovative.

Answer 2

Make sure that what your doing is really worth doing. Regardless of competition if you have a great idea or you know your subject are better than anyone else does then you will succeed.

But when faced with this you need to look at your business case. This is where you use judgement and flexibility.

Answer 3

Competition only tells you, that you are on the right track. Deliver a better product than they do.

Answer 4

This is an amazing opportunity. You have an array of benefits.

1. Compare your product to competition. See what you did wrong and they got right. See what you didn't think of. Evaluate why you made decisions and how it compares to your competitor.
2. Now you know that there is a niche for whatever you are doing. After all, if somebody else is doing it, that probably means the idea is worth something and there is a need for it.

All in all, I had that happen to me. I released a project and a day after I found (quite obvious) competitors. Domain names were better and shorter, they were in the market for longer, had more content. That was a bit discoraging, however I realized my product is better in small ways. I also fixed a lot of usability bugs that I saw in competitors. And I am beginning to get traction: top results in Google, constant visits, bigger market share. There is a long way to go, but some of that path is simply doing better than the other guy. Plus a little bit more.

it's all about optimism

Answer 5

If there is no competition, then I would get really worried. Having no competition can only mean 2 things:

1. You had a brilliant new idea nobody else ever thought of
2. There is no market for your product

While option 1 could be true, it is very unlikely.

If there is no competition, you probably created a product without a market, and then you are in real trouble.

Answer 6

Ignore the competition and do what your potential clients want / need. Also competition clarified that there is good market in there and don't forget market is always big enough to support more then one providers.