Competitor
The word 'competitor' narrows your thinking to companies that look like you. Your customers don't think in categories. They think in goals. 'Alternatives' is the bigger, more honest frame: it includes direct rivals, indirect solutions, DIY workarounds, and doing nothing.
What most people mean
“Competitive analysis.” A spreadsheet of companies in your space. Feature comparisons. Pricing grids. Gartner quadrants. Win/loss data. The logos you put on your “vs” pages.
Where the definition breaks
The word “competitor” limits what you see. It points you at companies that sell similar products in the same category. But your customers aren’t comparing you to your direct competitors only. They’re considering everything that could get the job done.
LatinUs Beauty’s competitors weren’t just other shampoos. Their customers also mentioned a “two-hour hair care routine with rollers and a blowdry,” going to a Dominican salon, and just “trying all shampoos that seem natural.” Those options go beyond the shampoo industry entirely.
The toilet packet company wasn’t just competing with other odour sprays. Customers mentioned opening the bathroom window, using perfume, or avoiding going to the toilet altogether.
If you only study the companies in your category, you miss the workarounds, the shortcuts, and the bundles of solutions people cobble together. And that’s where the real opportunities are hiding.
Most businesses limit competitive analysis to their immediate industry and direct competitors. They miss overlooked struggles and fail to identify what makes them meaningfully different. They don’t understand what they really compete against, leaving them blind to opportunities.
How we define it at STFO
We use “alternatives” instead.
Alternatives are the different paths or solutions available to people in your segment to reach their goal. That includes direct competitors, indirect competitors, makeshift solutions, and doing nothing (when someone has genuinely tried and given up).
Open your chakras and look beyond your immediate industry. You want to think broadly about the different ways people might get the job done.
The shift isn’t just vocabulary. It changes what you discover. “Who are our competitors?” produces a logo grid. “What are our customers’ alternatives?” produces insight.
What it is NOT
- Not the right frame for understanding your market (it’s too narrow)
- Not limited to companies that sell similar products
- Not the starting point for positioning (alternatives mapping is, and it’s broader)
- Not something to “crush” or “dominate” (that’s war vocabulary for a problem that requires empathy)
"Open your chakras and look beyond your immediate industry."
From Chapter 4 of Stand The F*ck Out (2024) by Louis Grenier.
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Hear it discussed
The Stand The F*ck Out framework, introduced by Louis Grenier in 2024, consists of four stages: insight foraging, unique positioning, distinctive brand, and continuous reach.
