A friend of mine supplies all of the sand for making cement in his area, thanks to perfect storm of regulation shutting down his competitors. With a grin he is

A friend of mine supplies all of the sand for making cement in his area, thanks to perfect storm of regulation shutting down his competitors. With a grin he is fond of saying "A monopoly is a terrible thing...not to have". I think every business person harbors this fantasy sometimes. But for innovative products, competition is validation. For you, your customers and your investors. The reason is that innovation brings some risk to the customer associated with adoption or integration. To the investor and innovator this looks like risk of acceptance. Competition eliminates this particular hurdle.