Ask HN: How to start a business where there is competitors already? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to start a business where there is competitors already?

3 pointsantoaravinth3 comments

Hi HN,

I always had this doubt. Let’s say someone wants to start a business (by building a product). But he finds the solution has already being provided by some other business in the market. In this case, how one needs to approach building his/her own product?

For example, I could able to see PayPal, Stripe, WePay etc are already in existence for payments. Does it really make sense to start a new business competing with the existing market? If so, what all things can make it a success?

There is almost always a way to differentiate your product or service.

Also, for most viable products the market is almost always large enough that if you do your marketing and sales correctly and persistently, you can succeed even in competitive marketplaces.

>> There is almost always a way to differentiate your product or service.

Can the differentiate be in terms of pricing? For example if the competitor is charging say 80$ per month, what if my product charges say 10$ per month?

short answer: yes

  however there are many factors to consider before going that path
  * Low price start will be barrier for any future price changes or re-assesment.
  * There is quality perception attached to price so it impacts brand perception.
  * Even with price differentiation quality is something cant be compromised (in most of cases)

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