Cracking The Competition Code A small guide on how business owners can learn from competition, where they should look for the intel and which tools are the best One of my duties as an expert at the European Commission is the evaluation of the business plans various companies provide when looking for an investor or applying for funding. Most frequently those entrepreneurs ask  EC (European Commission) for sums between one to five million Euros. Quite a substantial budget. What worries me is the level of awareness and knowledge about competitors presented by applicants and honestly sometimes presented by my clients, too. It is really rare for breathing, living company, already active on the market for several years, to provide a broad and solid competitive overview with business relevant conclusions. Some managers and business owners have a tendency to underestimate the value and the power of a competitive analysis done properly.