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.