The Rapidly Changing Rules of Online Competition

Today’s tide of young entrepreneurs, cutting their business teeth in a post web 2.0 world, are quickly catching on to the rapidly evolving rules of online competition. The old ways are dying. Today there are two primary ways to stay ahead of the competition online: innovation and cooperation. Steady innovation can mean the difference between an entrepreneur’s long term struggle and their eventual success. Unfortunately, the offline, old model world of business is used to head-to-head grudge match style competition, where all contenders are seeking the same thing – a new niche in the market or a process which nurtures the needs of the existing market in a different way. Those entrepreneurs who focus on innovation, searching for some way to refine their process by making it smarter, faster, cheaper, or easier to understand – will always benefit from their fair share of the market. And it is the small innovations which can sometimes yield the sharpest results. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but you can make sure it gets a lot more mileage. No business can be all things to all people, which brings us to cooperation. These days, it is best to think of your competitors as potential allies rather than than certain enemies. In the world of social media, trust is everything. Rather than believing they can take on the entire world themselves, many smart entrepreneurs see the value in establishing quiet partnerships with people or business which they may have one time seen as competitors. By working together, each business can help the other to deliver whatever it is they do best, reaching the corner of the market which is most suitable to them. There used to be fewer scenarios in business. Competition was fairly straightforward, usually head-to-head or David and Goliath. Back then, presentation was most of the innovation pie. In 2010, staying ahead of your competition will mean refining the user experience at every opportunity and knowing that the Internet brings the entire world just one click away. Entrepreneurs who focus on making their businesses the best they can be, who partner with like minded business doing the same, will be able to pull the profits from those businesses still going toe to toe with the competition.

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The Rapidly Changing Rules of Online Competition