When Competition Strikes ... Strike Back! Don't let a little competition scare you off. There are ways to keep your business on top.

To explain Casey Anderson's healthy attitude aboutcompetition, this teen entrepreneur has developed a healthyanalogy. "Having competition in business is like liftingweights," explains the 17-year-old owner of Cornbread'sSalsa in Crockett, Texas. "If you only lift a small amount,that's all you'll ever be able to lift, but if you keeplifting more and more, you'll get stronger."

Many businesses, even those run by adults, see competition asthe biggest threat to their success, but Anderson relishes it(pardon the pun). He says, "Competition makes you work harderto have a better product."

One of the reasons Anderson's so confident is because, whenhe first started his company, he conducted his own marketresearch- let potential customers taste his product while itwas still in the developmental stages. "[After tasting it,]people would say it needs more of this or less of that, and Ifinally got it just right," he says.

Market research-previewing your products for potentialcustomers and then asking their opinions-is helpful in anybusiness and can bolster your confidence. So how do you conductyour own market survey?

If you're planning to sell a product, have a sample you canshow to a group of people. If you're planning to start aservice business, develop a short presentation outlining how yourbusiness will work.

Next, create a document containing a list of questions you wantsurvey participants to answer. Remember to leave enough room soparticipants can adequately answer each question. Some questionsyou might want to include in your survey are:

• Do you like my business idea? Why or why not?
• Would you be willing to buy my product? Why or why not?
• What price would you pay for my product or service?
• How does my product or service compare to thecompetition's?
• What can I do to improve my product or service?

Now comes the hard part: Giving your presentation and waitingfor the survey results. If you're especially nervous (and whoisn't when it comes to public speaking?), practice yourpresentation before family and friends. If you've researchedyour business well, chances are, the feedback will be good.

After Casey got great feedback from his research, he was soconfident in the superior quality of his salsa that he wasn'tafraid to charge a bit more than his competition.

Competition? NoProblem!
Contrary to popular belief, running a small business can actuallyhelp young business owners gain an edge over the competition. How?In Anderson's case, most of his customers are family andfriends, who would much rather buy from someone they know and trustthan take their chances buying an unknown salsa off the storeshelf.

But what if your competition doesn't come from the big name,national brands that can buy in bulk and package their ownproducts? What if your stiffest competition is another smallbusiness in a nearby town?

That's the situation Anderson found himself in when hediscovered that New Canaan Farms also manufactured salsa in nearbyFredericksburg, Texas. "They're my biggest competitor inthe local stores," he says. Never fear, though-Andersonhas a plan to combat that competition by increasing the number ofstores carrying his product in the 300-mile radius around his home.More name recognition, he says, means more sales.

Teen business owners often encounter many difficulties runningtheir businesses, especially in the face of competition, but ifyou're smart, you'll adopt an attitude that's aspositive as Casey's: "Sometimes you have to sacrifice toget started," he explains, "but you also have to plan tokeep growing."

Amy Fennell Christian, a writer living in Augusta, Georgia,is a freelance editor for YoungBiz.com.