Eyes on the prize: The Key to Becoming a Successful Startup

Every start-up seems to follow a similar story. You struggle to get your idea off the ground and gain momentum. With enough effort, it happens and you take off flying. Growth is phenomenal and you can feel the success. Then, growth levels off. The slow-down gives you a moment to breathe, but you wonder what happened. Why did the growth slow? What is going wrong? 

In those moments it’s natural to look outside of your organization to see what has been going on in the marketplace around you.

That moment presents an important philosophical choice: How frequently should we be looking at our competitors?

• Are competitors something that we pay attention to? 

• Do we look at all of them or just some of them?

• Is it distracting to pay attention to the competition or helpful?

There are two main approaches when it comes to examining the competition. You can have tunnel vision or you can keep your eyes wide open. As we take a look at both, think about which you most closely align with, and the pros and cons that come with each choice.

A Tunnel Vision Approach to Competition Analysis

The idea behind tunnel vision is that when you spend your time looking at the competition, you miss the opportunities that are right in front of you that make your organization unique. Here are a few famous quotes that outline the thinking behind tunnel vision.

Go Further Than The Crowd

Albert Einstein is known for saying, “The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen before.”

When you spend your time looking at what everyone else is doing, there isn’t time to explore new ideas. You are busy making sure that you are at least as good as the next company. But that isn’t the goal. We want to be better than the crowd and the ideas that will get you there won’t be found where they are.

Tunnel vision keeps us focused on producing the next big thing.

Focus On The Next Thing

“Yes, worry about the competition. But worry more about how to close the next customer.” - Jason Lemkin

Your next, or current, customer is going to have needs that are unique to them. Trying to be just like the competition means that you miss the opportunity to be exactly what those customers need.

Tunnel vision allows you to care well for your specific customer base.

Win With Execution

Last but not least, is a quote from Leadr Chief Technology Officer, Chris Johnson. He once said, “One of our differentiators and competitive advantages could be our ability to stay focused and execute.”

When you spend your time watching your competition, you lose focus. You begin to take on ideas and projects that were never part of your goals in the first place. When you choose something to do and you do it well, that becomes a competitive advantage independent of your competition.

Tunnel vision gives you the focus to find your competitive advantage.

An Eyes Wide Open Approach to Competition Analysis

On the other hand, staying eye wide open to competition gives you the perspective and motivation needed to continue pushing forward when things seem hard. 

There’s Space

It’s easy to do a quick Google search and see the numerous companies offering the same service as you. You might panic and feel like there is no space left for you to break into the market. The reality is that as long as there are new companies entering and finding a market share, then there is still space for you. The total addressable market is huge. You will find your space. But if you don’t look around at the competition every once in a while, you’ll miss that revelation.

Eyes wide open gives you perspective to see just how many people need your service or product.

Be Different

“You can’t look at the competition and say you’re going to do it better. You have to look at the competition and say you’re going to do it differently.” - Steve Jobs

If you never look at your competition, you won’t ever know if you are just like every other company out there. Taking a moment to evaluate what is happening with your competitors gives you the opportunity to identify a hole in the market and fill it, making you different from the competition.

Eyes wide open shows you the holes you could be filling in the market.

Be Better

“Avis can’t afford not to be nice. Avis can’t afford to make you wait. Avis can’t afford dirty ashtrays. Avis is only number 2 in rental cars, so we try harder.” - Avis

In the 1960s, Avis was #2 behind competitor, Hertz. Rather than let that discourage them, they derived an entire marketing campaign on being Number 2. Eventually, they scooped up the number 1 spot.

Here’s why. When you look at the competition, it gives you perspective. As successful as you might feel, there is likely still room for improvement. It’s not time to rest on your laurels, but to think like an underdog. What decisions will you make to create a more effective product or service? What will future customers appreciate about working with an organization that never settles?

Eyes wide open gives you the motivation to push harder and go farther.

When it comes to the competition, there are two main approaches, both with their benefits for your organization to become the strongest solution for your clients and customers.

So, what do you think? Should we lean on Tunnel Vision or keep our Eyes Wide Open? I think the answer is “yes.”