Competition is a race to go on top of your lead, and entrepreneurs who are successful are a key to thrive under extreme pressure. They see the competition as an opportunity to advance their business, and view obstacles as a developing tool.

Entrepreneurs that embrace competition, apply it for a further push up to change the perception of the sector and create a benevolent and innovative change. Yet it might be scary sometimes.

It raises anxiety, amplifies the strength of your insecurities - what if someone outclasses your expertise? What if they're better than you?

Sure, it's easy to worry about who we compete with, but it's just as simple—if not simpler—to get excited about competition.

Competition teaches us great lessons; pushes us to be the best you can be.

Bill Gates says "Whether it's Google or Apple or free software, we've got some fantastic competitors and it keeps us on our toes."

Trying to create value for the customer with R&D and innovation is not enough for commercial success, which is essential to dominate the unfair competition in the market.

Whether you're starting a new business or an employee at someone else's company, busy with new products, markets, and projects; You're an entrepreneur. You observe market conditions, take risks, initiate and lead. Whereupon, there is a question that you need to give an impressive answer about your products and projects, especially those dealing with 'innovative' works: What is your unique side that will give you a competitive advantage and make you superior?

What is your privilege?

Silicon Valley has put this issue into entrepreneurship terminology as an unfair advantage. The word unfair is often used to mean 'unjust' or 'fraudulent', but it should be stressed that it is used here metaphorically to mean 'privileged'.

Some also refer to what differentiates you as 'secret sauce' or 'magic'. The appeal of an enterprise depends on its ability to always provide a convincing answer to this question. To what extent the conditions of free competition prevail in a market, the persuasiveness of the response is directly proportional to the innovation level of the enterprise.

On the other hand, entrepreneurs may need to answer the question of 'unfair advantage' in its true meaning, in proportion to the degree of deterioration of free competition in their markets! Even in America and Europe alone, startups such as Airbnb and Uber, which stand out with their innovativeness, can both be accused of unfair competition and exposed to it. One of the main reasons for this is that changes in legal regulations and market habits always lag behind changes in technology and social life. Perhaps an entrepreneur needs to fight his/her first battle in the field of unfair competition mostly against (outdated or inadequate) laws.

One of the reasons that prevent brilliant R&D projects from being transformed into successful products and commercialized is that researchers do not know enough about the unfair competition conditions in the market, or they avoid being involved even if they are aware of it. In fact, this partly explains why the initiatives that stand out in the competitions held in the 'lounge environment' fail after leaving the hall.

Similarly, for some entrepreneurs, it is easier to qualify for a grant by passing evaluations that are objective, well-known and unfair commercial practices are not a criterion, than to acquire customers in the market.

The fact that the competition is not full / free creates such market conditions that you have to discover them while you are still in the design and development phase, long before you put your product on the market and do what is necessary. Because no product is developed to function alone, competition is based on compatible product systems and being a value-adding part of the ecosystem.

It can be said that the commercialization phase of innovation projects differs from the basic R&D phase in giving priority to customer demands and the market, as well as being prepared for imperfect competition conditions.