Your competitive set is defined by your buyer, not by your industry. Before you can position anything, you need an honest list of what a prospect actually weighs up when they have the problem you solve, which is almost always broader than the businesses that look like yours.
Direct Competitors Solve It the Same Way
A direct competitor sells roughly the same category of solution to roughly the same buyer. These are easy to find and easy to over-weight. List them, but note that competing hard against them tends to produce feature matching and price pressure, because the buyer already accepts the category and is only choosing a vendor inside it.
Indirect Competitors Solve It Differently
An indirect competitor serves the same need from another category: a consultant competing with software, a course competing with hiring a freelancer, a service competing with an internal hire. These matter more than founders expect, because they are where the budget frequently goes. If a prospect says they went in a different direction, that direction is an indirect competitor.
Find the Set by Asking, Not Guessing
Build the list from evidence. Ask recent buyers what else they looked at, read the comparison questions people post in forums and communities, check what search suggestions appear alongside your category, and note what competitors name on their own comparison pages. Your guesses reflect your market knowledge; the buyer’s shortlist reflects their reality.
Action Step
Write two columns, direct and indirect. List five names under each, and beside every indirect entry note the alternative approach it represents. Mark which names came from evidence and which came from your own assumption.
This lesson is educational and reflects general practice. Results depend on your situation, market and effort; adapt what you learn to your own context.