Can you compete with big companies?

Time and time again projects and small companies prove this statement to not be accurate. I'm not exactly sure why this is the case. I suspect it's that larger companies have more diluted culture, less motivation and less ability to do dramatic change, or perhaps they're just out of touch. But by the time they want to copy you, you've probably already got traction. You don't always need the resources of a big company to make something great. A lot of projects are just not interesting to them or directly competing against them. Even in a narrow space your way of doing things could be such a dramatic change that they cannot just copy you: it would confuse their users way too much. For example: Gmail cannot change their client to a version of Superhuman overnight, even though they can afford to build one. And even if they could, they don't want to charge $30/mo for email.

Be the first, let them copy and try to move fast whether competition. Perhaps big dinasours move slower than you. It might be cheaper for big old dinasours to buy your project than start a new one from scratch :) Anyway, should anybody aspiration be a monopoly? are you sure you need to dominate the market? If there is market wouldnt be enough to have a small piece of it for you and your team? Nobody better than you to set the goals and consider the risks. Good luck from Spain.

Perhaps, the most important way your business can stand out from the larger companies is through great Customer Service. This is primarily because, customers appreciate and pursue relationships and experiences, not just end results.

you will never know it without trying, TRY!

It definitely worth it. I am very happy seeing my idea or product being "re-made" to become better.

It can always be copied. However everything is a matter of time and ressources. If a big player want to copy what you did, he first has to know about you. Then the difference between a big player and you is the knowledge around the new product you've built. This cannot be copied unless someone of your team works for the big player.

Think of this in terms of the problem you are solving. Are there large companies trying to solve similar problems? in similar ways? Does this problem solution require a lot of time to understand to get right? Most big companies are big because at some point in the past they started addressing a problem correctly and then they scaled up to exploit the full market size of the opportunity. They are likely busy with the current opportunity that their solution exploits. The reason big companies dont do well against disruptive startups is that until the problem/solution is validated they often dont value it internally. and even when a startup gets enough traction to get on the radar of a big company, they have their budgets already locked in for the next year, so they have to convenience a myriad of stakeholders to carve out a small team to just begin the problem space exploration that you are already years into. So the question is, once you get on the radar of your potential big competitors, what advantages can you build into your business model that will make it hard for them to replicate quickly. All you can do here is buy yourself time with these advantages, but buying yourself time means possibly being a market leader or more attractive longer. These advantages may make you an attractive acquisition as well. But honestly nothing matters other than user adoption. If you have a lot of users, then your tech is good enough. If you dont have alot of user then does not matter how awesome your tech or product is, no competitor will care, and no one will try to buy you out. Just focus on learning about your customers problem faster and more completely and delivering solutions faster and more completely then anyone else. Don't fear investing in your idea over this. Just do it.

I believe so. Often a smaller company with new mindsets and perspectives can offer better service, unique solutions and a stronger product. It's exactly what we are working to do in a VERY well established market. The tough think we are facing as we gear up to launch is how to get the word out, how to get noticed when the 'big players' have SO much more money to put into marketing, ads and press. Eager to hear any input. Thanks, @jernigan Launching (available now in a soft-launch phase) a better, stonger travel medical insurance with added features.

The real focus has to be on providing value to the community. If our fear is greater than desire then we can't ever win.

Small teams are versatile and more flexible, as opposed to a majority of big companies. Corporate politics tend to smother creativity, so if your idea does get copied: know your work stands out from the crowd. Use this information as a push to build something of your own that can't be taken away.