Starting a business could be a herculean task, especially when one considers the immense amount of competition you would face as a newbie. As a young entrepreneur, it's usually a daunting task competing with already established businesses. Such businesses already have a large capital and customer base, they have the pedigree and reputation. The thought of competition is enough to discourage many potential entrepreneurs, urging them to dust their CV's.
Frankly speaking I wouldn't say it is all that easy, but there is a difference between working hard and working efficiently. Many new entrepreneurs tend to want to copy their bigger competitor's ways of doing things. Yes these methods worked for these businesses don't necessarily mean there isn't another way to provide more efficient and effective goods or services.
The key element in starting business is the costumer, as they form the focal point of business. One must understand the needs and desires of costumers in your niche- which is apparently the same with costumers all over, they are looking for solution to certain problems or they want to derive the most satisfaction at a given cost. They really don't concern themselves with how much it cost to produce these products, or the amount of manpower required to produce this or that, all they are concern about is solutions.
Understanding this would go a long way in helping new or struggling entrepreneurs change the way they think. As an entrepreneur, you need to concern yourself with the problems consumers in your niche are facing, even if there is an existing solution, thinking out of the box, you can provide them with a better solution for their everyday problems.
There are so many problems in every niche that requires solutions, it is your job as a new entrepreneur (that wants to be successful) to identify these problems and search for possible solutions to these problems. These would give establish a temporary monopoly for you in your niche- which could yield a whole lot of profit, depending on how you plan your business.
It is important to understand how others in your niche made it, but that doesn't mean you should copy them with your eyes closed. Remember that a whole lot of people would also be copying their methods thereby saturating the market with replicas, thus given the costumer little choice but to stick with the big guns.