Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
A Business Consultant's Perspective
Who Are You Competing With in Lake Mary?
Tuesday, 12:15, Lake Mary Boulevard. Your new dining room is empty, and the line at the place across the lot is out the door. Nobody told you that was your competitor.
Your competition in Lake Mary is three businesses: the one you know about, the one you do not, and the one that opens after you. Running the shop is your strength; sizing up rivals is the business side, and Dr. Paul helps you learn to do it yourself. Most owners plan for the first and get hurt by the other two. In 14+ years and 1,000+ clients, Dr. Paul has watched that pattern repeat. This page gives you a scan you can run in one afternoon with free tools.
Want Dr. Paul to run it with you? Call or text (321) 948-9588.
Last Updated: 10/29/2026 · Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Myth vs. Fact
Four Things Owners Say About Competition, and What Is True
Every owner has a reason the competition does not matter. Here are the four Dr. Paul hears most.
Ready for Help?
Four Ways to Work With Dr. Paul
01 · Start Here
Business Consulting
Bring your competitor list. Leave with a clear position, a price strategy, and the reason a Lake Mary customer picks you.
02
Business Plan Writing
The bank wants a market and competition section that holds up. Dr. Paul writes the plan and the financials around it.
03
Fractional CFO/COO
Already open and feeling the squeeze from a new competitor? Dr. Paul reads the numbers with you every month, part time.
04
Small Business Education
Free guides on competitors, positioning, and marketing for owners who learned the trade first. Prefer to write your own plan? See the templates.
Know Who Is in the Ring
Direct, Indirect, Substitute, and the One That Opens After You
Competition is not just the shop that looks like yours. It is anyone who could take the same dollar from the same customer. Sort them into four buckets.
| Type | Who it is | Lake Mary example | What you do about it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct | Same product, same customer. | A second boutique fitness studio a short drive down Lake Mary Boulevard. | Know their prices, hours, and reviews cold. Pick one thing you do clearly better. |
| Indirect | Different product, same need. | For a lunch spot: the cafeteria inside a large office building, or a meal delivery app. | Compete on the need, not the product. Faster, closer, or easier wins. |
| Substitute | The customer solves it another way, or skips it. | For a lawn service: the homeowner who buys a mower and does it on Saturday. | Sell the time and hassle you save. Price against their weekend, not against another crew. |
| The one after you | A copycat who opens once you prove demand. | A national brand that could take a pad site once a busy corridor shows the market is there. | Build what is hard to copy: relationships, reviews, systems, a niche you own. |
Most owners only write down row one. Rows two and three often take more of your customer's money, and row four shows up in year two. You cannot stop a copycat. You can give your customers a reason to stay. That is the work Dr. Paul does with owners on the Lake Mary business consultant side of the practice, and it starts before you open.
The Lake Mary Landscape
Why Your Lake Mary Competition Is Closer, and Bigger, Than It Looks
Lake Mary is a small city with a big office footprint along I-4. That mix shapes who you compete with.
Sources: NADG, Colonial TownPark property page; Seminole County Tax Collector, Business Tax Receipts; Lake Mary, Florida (Wikipedia, citing the 2020 Census).
Read those together. Colonial TownPark, west of I-4, mixes Publix, Ruth's Chris, a cinema, and a long list of national and local tenants with offices and apartments upstairs. Lake Mary is also home to offices such as the AAA national office and Scholastic Book Fairs. So a new coffee shop, salon, or lunch counter could be competing with brands that have a marketing budget bigger than your whole build-out.
That does not mean you lose. It means your direct competitor may be a chain, your indirect competitor may be the break room, and the Lake Mary Boulevard and Rinehart Road corridors may each draw a different crowd at a different hour. Your scan has to look at both.
Look Before You Leap
The Lake Mary Competitor Scan, Step by Step
One afternoon. A notepad. Five free sources. Do them in this order.
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Search Sunbiz for your industry words
The Florida Division of Corporations lists every registered LLC and corporation, with addresses and filing dates. Search the words your competitors would use in their names. Recent filings near Lake Mary may be the competitor that opens after you.
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Pull the county business tax records
Because Lake Mary businesses also need a Seminole County receipt, county records can show who is registered to operate. The Tax Collector posts business tax search and public record reports.
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Drive the corridor at your customer's hour
Lake Mary Boulevard at lunch. Rinehart Road on a Saturday. Colonial TownPark on a Friday night. Count the cars, note the prices, watch the lines. Go when your customer would go.
Your own two eyes
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Read their one-star and three-star reviews
Five-star reviews tell you what they do well. One-star and three-star reviews tell you what customers wish someone did better. That gap is your opening.
Google and Yelp reviews
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Ask the people who already know
Other owners hear about new openings first. The Seminole County Chamber runs a Lake Mary council that meets for coffee. One morning there may beat a week online.
From City Hall
What Lake Mary's Own Annual Report Says About Your Competition
Every year the city publishes a financial report. Most owners never open it. Three lines in the latest one matter to anyone sizing up competition in Lake Mary.
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About 17,516 residents
The city's estimate for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. A small resident base means many local businesses fight for the same households, so your direct competitors may be fewer streets away than you think.
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Manufacturing, medical, retail, professional office, and technology
That is how the city describes its business community. A medical office park or a tech campus may feed you customers, and may also run its own cafe, gym, or vendor list. That is an indirect competitor.
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Office vacancies
The report names vacancies in office space as one reason commercial values were flat or falling. Fewer workers in a building could mean a thinner weekday lunch crowd. Empty space could also draw the competitor who opens after you.
Source: City of Lake Mary, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, letter of transmittal (filed with the Florida Auditor General).
What to do with it: before you sign near an office building, walk the lobby directory. Count the empty suites. Ask the landlord what occupancy looks like today. Your customer count, and your competitor count, both start there.
From a Business Consultant's Chair
Dr. Paul's Insight: Size Matters Less Than Focus
"They've got four hundred posters and a hawk. I've got a sign. How do I compete with that?"
Chapter 20 · Four Hundred Posters, One Sign: A Squirrel's Fair
From Marketing for Small Businesses, Book 4 of Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series
Dr. Paul's take: The big competitor is rarely what sinks a small Lake Mary business. Being vague is. When an owner cannot say in one sentence why a customer should pick them over the chain at Colonial TownPark, the customer cannot either, so they default to the name they already know.
The fix is not a bigger budget. It is a sharper target. Pick the customer the big player serves badly, learn what they complain about, and build your offer around that. Dr. Paul's Organize-Plan-Grow™ approach starts with exactly that question.
Learn the Marketing Side
Know Your Customer, Know Your Competitor, Taught Through Stories
Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series · Book 4
Marketing for Small Businesses
Who is your customer, who else is chasing them, and why should they pick you? This book teaches the marketing basics a small business owner actually uses, through short stories from the Fabled Forest, with plain steps you can apply to your own shop. Written for owners who would rather be doing the work than reading marketing jargon.
FAQ
Competition Questions Lake Mary Owners Ask
How do I find out who my competitors are in Lake Mary?
What is the difference between direct, indirect, and substitute competitors?
What if there is no competition for my business idea?
Can Dr. Paul help me size up my competition before I open?
Know your competitors before your landlord does.
Keep Going
More for Lake Mary and Central Florida Owners
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Business Consultant, Author & Educator | 14+ Years | 1,000+ Clients Served
MBA, Focus in Finance, Webster University
Serving Lake Mary from Deltona, FL
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA is a business consultant, author, and educator, and the founder of
Quality Business Plan. He works with Lake Mary and Central Florida owners on business planning, financial modeling, fractional CFO services, and the everyday problems of businesses that depend too much on their owners. He is the creator of
Dr. Paul's Organize-Plan-Grow™ Strategy, author of
numerous published books on Amazon including Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series, and publisher of over
1,000 business-focused videos on YouTube. He has taught as an adjunct college instructor and teaches in Florida public schools.
This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, tax, accounting, or other professional advice. Competitor examples are illustrative. Property, tax receipt, and population details are cited to their sources and change over time; confirm current requirements with the City of Lake Mary and the Seminole County Tax Collector. For decisions about your own business, consult a qualified professional.