A legal monopoly where a seller supplies a product or technology on which it holds a patent. occurs when a company receives a patent that allows it to use exclusively an invented product or process. Patents are granted for a limited period of time, usually twenty years. United States Patent and Trademark Office, General Information Concerning Patents, April 15, 2006, www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html#laws (accessed January 21, 2012). Meanwhile, other companies cannot use the invented product or process without the permission of the patent owner. Patents give companies some time to cover the high costs of researching and developing products and technologies. A classic example of a company that enjoyed a legal monopoly based on a patent is Polaroid, which for years held exclusive ownership of instant film technology. Mary Bellis, “Inventors-Edwin Land-Polaroid Photography-Instant Photography/Patents,” April 15, 2006, inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpolaroid.htm (accessed January 21, 2012). Polaroid set the price of the product high enough to recoup the high cost of launching over time. In other words, without competition, it enjoyed a monopolistic position in terms of price. In market economies, there are a variety of different market systems that exist depending on the industry and the companies in that industry. It is important for small business owners to understand what kind of market system they operate in when making decisions about prices and output, or when they decide to enter or leave a particular industry.

I read one morning in the Wall Street Journal that food manufacturers use mobile games to market their products to children. I`ve noticed that content marketing has a huge impact on how some businesses, especially publishers and media companies, should look at their competitors. (I`ve also noticed that my kids have to spend less time on the iPad, but I`m getting lost.) Indirect competitors offer products or services that are not identical, but that meet the same needs of consumers. A good example of indirect competitors would be two different types of restaurants. For example, a fast food restaurant and a buffet restaurant do not offer the same type of product, but they satisfy the same craving of customers. You can see if two companies are indirect competitors if: Surrogate competitors (also called potential competitors) are suppliers that are able to completely replace the company`s offering by providing a new solution. There are several things a company should do to stand out from the competition, some of them are as follows; Identify and solve your customers` problems. Solving customer problems will help you gain their loyalty and they will start using your product or service no matter what you offer. Build your niche to have more space for your business. The exact function of the product is more valuable than a general thing, it would become your area of expertise and people would prefer your product.

Get the right prices. The introduction of competitive prices in the market is very important. they must also be relevant to the quality of the product. Make innovation your best friend. Stay innovative in your product over time, it will keep your audience alive. Improve your customer service. You should always add the features in your product. it is something that would allow for safe customer loyalty. Competition is no longer competition; It has become a matter of survival in the market. Competitors are spending more and more resources in the market; Operating expenses have risen sharply in recent years. Competition is a fact of doing business. Companies see competition in the form of price, quality, design, sales, location, and almost any business process.

Commercial competition is an effective way to increase demand for a product or service. As more and more companies invest in their marketing and promotional efforts, consumer demand for their products and services may increase as brand awareness continues to grow. This is beneficial for any competitor involved and can lead to higher sales, acquisition and higher customer loyalty. Economists have identified four types of competition: perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly. Perfect competition was discussed in the last section; Here we will cover the other three types of competitions. “Know thyself” is a Greek aphorism that is as true today as it was thousands of years ago. In life and business, to really grow, you need to understand your strengths and weaknesses, and you need to understand how to improve both. BOTH UPS and FEDEX operate in the parcel delivery services industry, with the rise of e-commerce and online shopping, the delivery service is becoming a very important business like foot soldiers. .