I just discovered a couple of possible competitors a little while back. And then I panicked. And then I took a few minutes to think. And then I smiled. I lifted the covers below the rug of competition and I saw opportunity … lessons, warnings, questions and answers. And then I thought to myself – “It is about getting under the rug on competition and then rising above it” – I need to make the effort to pull that rug up in the first place and look for the fun stuff hidden between the dust ….
Here is the story -
I did a LOT of research before starting my work on Memetales. I was so excited that there was nothing online similar to what Memetales was going to offer! The idea was born from very unique circumstances – my need to express, my children’s needs for picture book and the need to help my sister (an artist) make some money and differentiate herself. It would be silly of me to expect nobody would already be present or see the potential in this space, but I certainly believed I saw a real need and a real solution. With time, more solid research, feedback and such, I am getting mote certain about this need, but I am also noticing other players around me ….
A couple of weeks back, I was on Facebook, trying to find people/groups that would fit my target market. I put a post in one of the groups and left. The next day, I saw a post above mine, by a gentleman who is proposing to do something very similar to what Memetales is. And in some ways, he was doing a better job explaining.marketing himself. My heart sank – and thanks to my other organs – it just bounced right there – back to place …I sat quiet for a couple of minutes and then something changed – and it was my perspective. As I read what all he had to say in his defense, I was thinking to myself – “Wow, I would not get such a good and relevant lesson defendng my business even if I paid for it !”.
Competition isn’t always a good thing but there is ALWAYS more than one good thing we can take away from competition. Let me list a few good things that I tool away :
- Presence of just a few other players in a field affirms that there is a game to be played: This is rather good information for me! It affirms that change is coming and perhaps the market is getting ready for my idea …. it is better to have a few people playing in the field than nobody at all! Print on Demand, acceptance of the self-publishing model, the ease with which kids interact with technology are a few things that are the factors today that make Memetales possible – and it seems that a few other people are seeing that too.
- There is space for everyone and more: The business arena is an open field – everyone plays and everyone should play. If I want to stay and continue to play I have to figure out a way to do it. And that is a challenge. And challenges are good – really good at this point. I am sure that businesses that are challenged early on do better on the long run.
- An opportunity for differentiation : With the challenge is an opportunity – to be better and to be different. If I had nobody to compare myself with, it would be really hard to analyze some things. To me, another company doing something somewhat similar is like readily available market research for me.
- Forces a stronger brand/community: Competition scares me and forces me to rethink what the Memetales brand means and what the Memetales community means.
- Learn from their mistakes and learn from others – the good and bad – what to do and what not.
- If there is really a reason to hurry up, competition will make you hurry up. Sometimes, timing can mean a lot – the timing of a release, the timing of a feature and so on. Competition is a good timing system if you keep your eyes and ears open for cues and news.
The main thing for me to remember about my startup is that the more companies that enter this field, the better. E-books are just about starting to be accepted by readers and publishers alike. Children today interact seamlessly with computers, cell phones etc. Self publishing is more popular than ever. The way I see it, more players entering this space will only help this movement towards e-books and books in multiple formats. It is all a good thing for me.
Once I have understood all of this, my job is now to figure out how to get into this space and raise the barriers of entry – so more people cannot make it in. Hopefully, I will buy enough time to get rooted in the space and start spinning my cycle of innovation. For now, I have stopped worrying about competition and am focusing on creating the ecosystem for just the right number of players here .
Any ideas? I would LOVE to hear them!
photo credit: lumaxart