Competitive Analysis

Work through these five steps in order. Each builds on the previous one.

Step 1 — Identify Competitors

Sort every competitor into one of three buckets:

Type	Definition	How to find them
Direct	Solves the same job with a similar product	Search the category name, check review sites, ask users "what else did you consider?"
Indirect	Solves the same job with a different approach	Ask "how did people do this before products like ours existed?"
Substitutes	Competes for the same budget, time, or attention	Ask "what would they do instead of solving this job at all?"

Include "do nothing" as a substitute — it is always the strongest competitor.

List 3–7 competitors. More than that dilutes focus.