Don't fear competition

Don’t avoid your so-called competitors.

You should be talking to them (without giving away your business strategy or long term plans), cooperating to serve customers, and sharing leads when you can’t or won’t serve them. I like to call this co-opetition.

If your product and service are superior then you will outperform the competition over the long term. In the meantime they could be potential acquisitions or acquirers and you want to have a healthy, friendly yet business-like attitude towards them.

When I meet people who are obsessed by the competition I always ask 'Are you smarter than them? Do you work harder than them?' The answer to both questions is always 'yes' and they suddenly seem a lot less menacing...