There is something comforting about the idea that we have no competitors. Our idea is special, our approach is different, and every website we open gives us at least one reason to say, “That isn’t quite what we do.” We could almost start working on the investor slide. Before we do, though, there is a less comfortable question: what is the customer doing today, while we are still out of the picture?
In my story about moving from accounting into a startup, I wrote about Eyal looking for a cabinet that would fit a particular space in his apartment. That led to a conversation about custom furniture and solutions already available online. It is also a useful starting point for competitor research: a person trying to solve a specific problem. Understand that person, and then start looking for companies.
Start with the customer, then the logos
Suppose you are building a tool to help a small team manager keep track of customer inquiries. Searching for customer management systems will introduce you to an entire industry. Some companies are huge and their websites look excellent. They may still be of little interest to a manager who mainly wants to know which customer has not received a reply.
Take a sheet of paper, a spreadsheet or a whiteboard and describe the customer, the task and the situation. Here, that might be a manager with three team members, inquiries arriving through several channels and customers slipping through the gaps. Now we have a question we can investigate.
Bring three kinds of competition into the room
A direct competitor serves a similar audience and need in a similar way. In our example, that might be a system that collects inquiries and assigns them to team members. This is usually the easiest group to recognize because it resembles the product we want to build.
An indirect competitor may address the same need differently. It could be a human service that handles inquiries, or a broader system that already includes the necessary function. The customer does not need to share our enthusiasm for a particular technology to get an outcome that works for them.
Then there is the existing alternative: a spreadsheet, a WhatsApp group, a shared inbox or an employee who keeps everything in their head. Yes, even that spreadsheet with colors only one person understands may be competing with you. It is already there, the team knows it, and changing systems takes effort.
“But ours is much better”
Perhaps it is. Now explain for whom, in which situation and on what evidence. A longer feature list alone does not tell us that a customer will switch. The problem may be smaller than we thought, the habit stronger, or our comparison aimed at the wrong use case.
For each candidate, I suggest adding one sentence: under what conditions might our customer choose this solution? That connects the research to a decision the customer actually faces.
The accountant in me would also like a link
Keep the name, product page, audience, need addressed and a supporting source. Separate what the company promises from your interpretation. If the audience is unclear, record a question for investigation. Missing information does not automatically deserve a low score.
The direct, indirect and alternative categories are working tools. A company can be a direct competitor in one use case and an indirect competitor in another. Revise your classification as you learn more. That is part of doing the research.
What should you do next?
Build an initial list that includes both companies and the ways customers manage today. Explain why each belongs, open the source and check whether your explanation holds. Then choose where to investigate further.
That is also the approach behind Mikud.AI: a structured process for competitors, sources and ratings, with AI helping you interpret findings and move forward. In the end, you should be able to explain who competes with you and why. Even if their spreadsheet does not have a logo.