Every business institution must have a thorough understanding of their competitors. It’s not always easy as it seems. Recognizing your competitor is the most important part. What Apple did to Sony, Sony did to Kodak. Apple being a computer based company, almost eliminated Sony from the audio industry. Sony never expected an IT company to encroach into their domain. Eventually, Sony did the same to Kodak in the domain of cameras, hence digitizing the existing technology.

Today, Sony, Canon or Nikon is not the largest seller of cameras in India. It is Nokia whose main line of business in India is not cameras but cell phones. Today, Moserbaer, Sony or HMV is not the biggest in music business in India. It is Airtel that rules in this domain, through its caller tunes. There are many such interesting cases. Multiplexes’ biggest competitor turned out to be IPL. Videoconferencing and telepresence services of HP and Cisco emerged as the biggest competitor of British Airlines.

Competition is never restricted to a single domain. There is a constant force from every direction and ultimately, business is all about survival! Today a hidden competitor is difficult to detect, but even more difficult to beat.