Did you ever hesitate building your product because there were similar solutions out there?

Question

I recently came across a dilemma. I was going to build something which is not very popular, however, I could find tools/products that were quite similar to it.

Even though what I build stands out in a few significant ways, I was slightly intrigued by it.

How does an owner/creator deal with this? How to go over this?

Aurelian Spodarec · Accepted Answer

Its an easy answer for me.

If there are similar products out there, my question is "Can I do it better?" - if the answer is yes, I go and do it.

I also realise, that my odds are against me since I'm "late" to the party.

However, you'll never be in a place where you're 100% confident you can do it or something else doesn't exist. Chances are, everything we build probably exist somewhere, unless you're a billionaire trillionare trying to create a bus to mars.

If I can only do 5% better I won't bother with it.

Plus, can I learn something from this experience meanwhile even if I was to fail? And are the chances of me doing something are big enough? I just go for it.

Ng Fang Kiang · Answer

There are similar goals. However, it is better to build different things with different solutions.

Maxwell Davis · Answer

I'm having this dilemma right now actually - I can see 2 products that haven't been worked on that I think I can improve.  But it's going to be hard to attract the communities away....

Stefan Morris · Answer

Coca-Cola dominates the market, yet is not the only game in town.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cola_brands

You'll be fine if you have a product that people like, I think.

Sidhdharth Sivasubramanian · Answer

@aurelianspodarec Thanks for sharing this. It's true. 5% improvement is enough.

Did you ever hesitate building your product because there were similar solutions out there?

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