My Competitors are insane! They copied my business model

Feeling down right now

[Ricky_G]

Hello Guys

I just wanted to share a weird feeling I have inside.
I launched a product a few months ago, which revolutionized the industry I was dealing in. I actually invented a new business model and became the emerging name in the online market.

But now, my competitors have copied exactly the same business model, and launched a product in 2 months against the product to which I spent whole 1 year to develop.

The advantage they have over me is just they have a good customer database (As I was pretty new to the industry)

I know I am going to beat them as I launch next version of my product. But the thing is, developing my product is just taking too much time. Thats what makes me feel down.

Thanks for listening to me! :)
You were a great audience.

[jatar_k]

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"

it's bound to happen, especially if you are doing well, of course they are going to imitate you.

>> I know I am going to beat them

there ya go, good attitude

put it this way, if they are spending all their time trying to figure out what you have already done then you can spend your time thinking up new ways to get ahead ;)

[txbakers]

How do you think Steve Jobs feels practically every day of his adult life? Pretty much every innovation Apple invented or developed first was copied by competitors.

The real secret is not to worry about being copied. Accept that. But get to your market first, and get to it big. Then the copiers won't have much left to steal.

[Wonderstuff]

A similar thing happened to me. It just made me even more competitive.

It could be that somebody else had the same idea as you, so don't take it personally. Nothing stays the same for long in business - time to get innovative.

[digitalghost]

All your competitor did was beat the window. One of the fundamental laws of product development is that no matter what you're working on, someone else will be offering it within 6 months of your launch. They beat the window by 4 months.

Actually, it's good news. You have confirmation of demand.

[teeceo]

If you have a product that is that hot and can make some good money with the right marting and more people to develope it, it sounds to me like you need VC money and now is a great time to show your company and wares. (my 2 cents).

teeceo.

[ronburk]

One of things most venture capitalists look hard at before funding any new venture is "barrier to entry". Now you know why. You made something new, but the barrier to entry was low, so other folks could start eating you up in relatively short order.

[bateman_ap]

How do you think Steve Jobs feels practically every day of his adult life

Rich?

[windvision]

is it possible to have any future intellectual property rights for new revisions?

[stu2]

How do you think Steve Jobs feels practically every day of his adult life? Pretty much every innovation Apple invented or developed first was copied by competitors

How do you think Unix Labs felt?