Map your competitors
Have a research specialist lay out who already serves your market: the obvious rivals, the sideways substitutes, and the ever-popular "do nothing" that quietly wins more deals than anyone admits. Then find the gap you can own — the job nobody is doing well yet.
Your real competition is rarely just the company that looks like you. It is also the spreadsheet, the status quo, and the tool your customer already half-uses.
Step by step
- 1
List the obvious rivals
Name the companies that look like you — the ones you already worry about.
- 2
Add the substitutes
Include the sideways options: a spreadsheet, a manual process, a general tool.
- 3
Name the do-nothing option
Be honest that "change nothing" is a real, popular choice you have to beat.
- 4
Find the gap
Spot the job none of them does well — that gap is where you have room.
The competitor nobody lists
Most competitor maps miss the biggest rival: inertia. If your product is not clearly better than doing nothing, the do-nothing option wins by default — and it never runs out of budget.
Key terms
- Direct competitor.
- Someone doing roughly what you do, for roughly your customer.
- Substitute.
- A different way of solving the same problem — often the one you forget.
- Do-nothing.
- The customer sticks with the status quo — quietly your toughest rival.
FAQ
Should I worry about small competitors?
Watch the fast ones, not the big slow ones — a nimble upstart changes the field quicker than an incumbent.
What if there are no competitors?
Usually that means no market rather than a clear field. Dig into why nobody is serving it before you celebrate.