You can absolutely apply the same concepts to national chains, and in this way I have ready examples that everyone already knows (also, most national chains had to start somewhere). You can also very much compare service businesses (restaurants, cleaning, maintenance, etc). Hell, the service industry is a huge portion of our national economy and is growing yearly.

Did I start my business in a flooded market? Yes, no question. However, even in that flooded market I have managed to get a toe-hold. My biggest challenge isn't the lack of need. Obviously with as many companies as there are, there is need. My biggest issue is getting noticed. People need to know I'm out there. Believe me, when they find me, they are very happy they did. Why? Because I offer more and because my results speak for themselves. This is why a new company can compete with established ones and why the marketplace is always changing.

I'm not reinventing the wheel, or revolutionizing any current product. When I sat down and considered what I could do to be my own boss this was what I came to over and over. It was something I knew how to do and had plenty of experience doing. It required relatively little capital investment, and it was something there was a proven market for. Not to mention I had seen it work first hand with my father's business. Trust me, if I had some brilliant new product that I knew would make me millions, yeah I'd have done it, but so would anyone.

Are you an entrepreneur? Do you know what it really is like to start your own business? I'm no expert, well not yet, but going from nothing to having regular work and being on the first page of Yelp, having Google recognize you're there, and a growing fan base in around 5 months seems like success to me. I'm warily optimistic myself, but so far...yeah, doing pretty well.