Hyper-Competition & Niche Opportunities
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
Here’s the rub. There is no way to sidestep the reality that the technologically enabled globalised business landscape is hyper-competitive. If you sell hats then there are a hundred thousand hat makers doing it better than you or cheaper than you or faster than you. The same goes for web design, photography… whatever.
Hyper-Competition is the Norm
The first thing to accept in a hyper-competitive market is that you can’t ignore the competition – if you don’t want to compete with the Bulgarian web designer then at least accept he’s already competing with you. He wants your customers. Or she, it doesn’t matter.
The second thing to accept in that environment is that hyper-competition is the new state of play everywhere. Everywhere. You no longer operate in a local area, even if your clients come from a local pool… their options are the rest of the world, if they so choose.
Hyper-Competition leads to Three Options
Option A is to crawl up into a ball, don’t compete and die an unnatural death as a business. Sorry but that’s not advisable – but it’s your choice.
Option B is to create a product in a part of the hyper-competitive market where everybody else is grubbing for their rent. The beauty of that is (a) you know that the product has an existing market and (b) you know that people are cashed up and paying. The down side, of course, is that everybody’s slice of the pie is reducing as more competitors flock like seagulls to the guy with the big bag of hot chips.
Option B also means that businesses are innovating in that space like crazy to out-do each other and so if you get to the top of the pack then don’t expect that good looks alone will keep you there. Innovation takes time, effort and money. Option B also probably means ordinary returns on investment over the long-term.
