The traditional approach is to learn what your competitors are doing now, predict their near-term plans, and try to improve on those actions for your own company. This knowledge can be helpful, for example, to pinpoint production efficiencies you should adopt or to rush an emerging product to market before your rivals do.

But in the highly regulated and technology-driven paint and powder industry, it is not enough to compete based on existing assets. Growth comes from new products, processes and markets. Traditional market research methods - industry surveys, R&D projections, trend analysis and commercially available industry reports - are limited in revealing the most promising growth opportunities. Traditional methods tell you what your competitors are doing or planning down the road, but not what they may have overlooked on the way. Yet the areas competitors have neglected may represent an untapped gold mine of opportunities for you.