Research Your Competition to Find Shortcuts to Success

When lost in the forest, follow a trail.

Have you ever been lost in the forest? It’s kind of exciting because the whole world is open to you. You can go in any direction, it almost doesn’t matter which one you choose. If you strike out in a new direction, there is a chance that you can discover a new vista that’s never been seen before.

There is a chance for that. It does happen. And I’ve had that happen, once.

For a while, we couldn’t even find the rest of the city! After hours of searching, we discovered an amazing vista, and we saw the city from a completely unique angle. There are probably only a handful of people in the world who have seen Portland from that perspective.

Once we knew the direction of our destination, we knew which direction to push through the wilderness. But there were hills, and valleys, and undergrowth in the way. It wasn’t until we found a trail that we were sure we would ever find our way out.

I’ll never forget the look on his face when he found the trail. We were tramping through the underbrush, tired and dirty. Suddenly I saw him up ahead, jumping up and down with a huge grin on his face.

With our feet on the trail, we knew there was a way out of the wilderness. An hour later, we arrived where we wanted to go. All we had to do was follow in the footsteps of those who had gone before us.

When you start your own business, you figure things out as you go. Nobody has ever run this business before, so you have to find your way through the wilderness as best you can.

Other entrepreneurs have found their way out of this same forest. There are others who serve your market. They are continually learning about your future customers. The insights, mistakes, and victories create a path to the same destination where you want to arrive.

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