I was obsessively focused on our competitors in the first few years of owning my business. I studied their pricing, products, distribution and any other piece of intel that I could source.

I spent so much time studying the competition that I failed to invest my time in creating a strategy for our brand.

One of the greatest joys in life is snowboarding (or skiing) in trees. There’s something magical about powder turns amongst the trees.

You learn very quickly that the secret to success in riding trees is to look for the spaces between the trees. We tend to look at the trees to be able to avoid them. But the problem is that our body will follow our eyes. 

So instead of avoiding the trees, we end up riding into them. Looking for the open spaces allows us to link up our turns and enjoy the ride.

Competitive analysis is like riding in trees - if we’re focused on our competitors we end up running right into them. Our strategy, products and pricing end up looking just like them.

It’s good to know who the competition is and where they are. But instead of focusing on them, we should be looking for the open spaces between them.