The first thing an Entrepreneur does after evaluating his competition is to plan how to kill his competition. Again, this is human tendency.
The world has changed in the last three decades and today, it is definitely not about killing your competition, but to understand how to work with them.
For instance, the Picture Tube in a TV which Samsung produces is purchased by almost all its competition – Sony etc. Why? Can’t the companies make their own picture tubes? They can, but they rather focus on the outcome of their product rather than the small but important component of the TV. Sony also purchases OLED panels from LG.
The large manufacturing companies definitely use third party components in their products. How are Train engines and aircraft manufactured? The key components are in-house but the remaining are got from their supply chain companies. This not only reduces their burden, but also allows co-existance of companies.
Today’s entrepreneurship is all about co-creation. The more partners you have the more stronger is your value and these partners don’t allow you to loose, but help you move forward.
As a Entrepreneur or Product Manager, identify how you can co-exist.