How to deal with competitors

If you say ‘No one else is doing this’ you’ll be wrong. The reality is that we live in a world where almost nothing is original. UX parts and user flows are copied EVERY DAMN SECOND!

Even if you’re at the MVP stage, don’t rush into building whatever without understanding who’s already in the market. To enhance the learning process, do a little homework.

Study the market first

Startups are mainly about opportunities. To determine whether or not a business idea is worth pursuing, do the market research. To better the market you plan to enter, answer these questions:

1. Who else is solving the same problem?
2. Are they small or big?
3. What types of users are they targeting at?
4. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
5. Are they going to build new products?

Study articles about the players in the target market. Check the way they perform on social media. Read customer reviews. Reach out to paying customers and try to talk to them. All the findings help you better understand the market gaps you can exploit. If it turns out that the market is saturated, it’s reasonable to focus on less competitive areas.

Find your unfair advantage

Try competitors’ products and find something that none of them has. This point of difference is gonna be your competitive advantage. A few possible options are:

1. Insider data.
2. Strong network with influencers.
3. More flexible functionality.
4. A higher level of security/speed.
5. Рatented technologies.

In fact, it can really be anything. By saying ‘Anything’ we mean anything where your product will be the best at.

It’s not even about the competition

Stay focused not on the competition, but on the value that you’re gonna create. Search for ways to make your product better. And betterer and bettererer 😀 Strive for better UX.  Strive for better support. This is this only way to win over customers.

Value> competition