Competition is generally considered to be good for the consumer forcing companies to come up with ever better products and holding down, or in some cases driving down, prices. However, if you are in the process of starting your own business competition may well be the last thing you need, especially if you have very little start-up capital.
One way to avoid the problem of competition is to simply carve out your own niche which, with a little bit of thought and some time and effort, is not as difficult as most people think. There are essentially two ways in which you can carve out your own niche.
The first is to offer a product or service which is unique. For example, back in 1975 a man named Gary Dahl came up with what many people thought was a ridiculous idea until they saw just how successful it turned out to be and just how much money he made. Gary Dahl came up with the idea of the 'Pet Rock' which was nothing more than a perfectly ordinary stone which was put into a box with a set of instructions (The Pet Rock Training Manual) and sold for $3.95. Not surprisingly his idea was so 'way out' that it attracted a lot of media attention, including television attention, which resulted in sales of more than one million Pet Rocks before people came to their senses.
Now this is perhaps a somewhat unusual example of the concept but remember that people buy what they want and not what they need. So, if you can come up with something that meets the desires of a particular market (such as a pet which doesn't have to be fed or walked and which doesn't make a mess in the house) then you could make a small fortune even if your product has a relatively short life span following the trend of the moment.
The second is to fill a gap in the market. It might seem surprising but there are many gaps in the market which companies for one reason or another simply have not yet got around to filling. If you do your homework and really get to know your way around a particular market you will soon start to spot the gaps.
Also, do not be afraid to think outside the box and here the Internet provides some excellent examples. Many people use the Internet to learn a skill and for years many people made a fortune providing 'how to' information in downloadable e-book format. As the Internet has improved from its early days so people have adapted their products, adding an audio version of their e-book at a higher price for example. Today people are making a fortune by taking those original e-book courses, updating them and now turning them into online video courses at a premium price. The product itself is not new but marketers are spotting gaps in the market and providing old information in a form which consumers prefer today.
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