Q&A: Opening a Competing Business
Opening a Competing Business
Question
Is it permitted to open a business that competes with an existing business in the city, when this is the kind of business that allows both operators to make a living side by side, and there is no certainty that opening the business will even reduce the income of the existing one?
Answer
Why not? It is permitted even if it does reduce the other person’s income. Especially if you’re talking about a city. See an overview regarding a community here: https://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/36051
and a general overview here: https://www.daat.ac.il/he-il/mishpat_ivri/maamraim/gelbard-taharut.htm
Discussion on Answer
Is this trolling? It seems like it is.
I’m genuinely asking. Do I need to be concerned, on the moral level, about the possibility that a business I opened will hurt the income of an existing identical business?
Is there any moral problem with competition (in a city, not in a community), when it is unclear whether opening the business will harm the existing business owner, and it is quite clear that the existing business will be able to continue operating (even if there is a possibility that some portion of his income will decrease)?