Among the many factors to consider as you size up and assess the project is whether or not your time frame or resources are impacted by competition. You may not be the first person with the innovative idea to sell baklava over the Internet; therefore, your project to get your new site, www.ultimatebaklava.com, launched by March 1st may require altering your time frame to beat your competitor, who is working on a project to launch www.bestbaklava.com.

If you learn that your competition is also working on a project to offer competitive products or services, you will have the added pressure of beating them to the punch. You may need to find ways to cut corners and create shortcuts to beat the competition, or at least have your product ready to go at the same time as your competitor.

Friendly competition to create a better product or develop the first of a particular item can be positive for a team that steps up to the challenge. Nonetheless, winning a competition at the risk of an inferior product or service is not really a victory, as you have not achieved the true goal of the project: produce a quality item or service that meets a specific need or solves a problem.