Cutthroat vs. Cooperative: How Do You View Competition?It's tempting to try to steamroll the competition. But sometimes a spirit of cooperation is in order.

Jake Rosenbarger knows a thing or two about high-stakes competition: Before he and his wife openedKim and Jake's Cakesin Boulder, Colo., Rosenbarger was a professional bicycle racer. But for a guy who honed his chops banging into opponents' handlebars at 35 mph, he has a surprisingly laissez-faire approach to competition in his new field.

Plays well with others: Jake Rosenbarger of Kim and Jake's Cakes.

"Every shop seems to have its own identity and appeals to a different customer," he says. "I don't feel like we're directly competing. We have a different style in the way we go about our business that makes head-to-head competition a little less of a factor."