Competition is all around you

TWO weeks ago, this column recommended rethinking who our suppliers are. It is also important to re-identify our competitors. Normally in business we see these as the companies which offer products or services that can be bought as alternatives to our own. Competition is more widespread than that. The person sitting in the cubicle next to you at work may be your greatest friend; s/he will still be a serious competitor, more so today than ever before.

A small-car manufacturer told me recently that he was having to consider electric three wheelers and senior's motorised wheelchairs as competition for his products. Ten years ago, the thought would never have crossed his mind. But even back then, he was eyeing the growth of early motor driven scooters as a challenge to the car.

Similarly, animal-based foods now have to take vegetarians, and variations on the vegetarian theme, seriously. Restaurants are producing increasingly appealing vegetarian menus. A product on which I worked in the 1960s as a credible meat substitute is finding its market 50 years later as Quorn. Timing is all in business.