Ask HN:How much is too much competition to enter a market?

I would not worry about too much competition. I would rather look at how much piece of the pie is potentially available (depending on the answer to the question about market size above). For example, you say that there are 5 national competitors for that particular idea you had but locally, there might be opportunity. So why not start local and talk to your potential customers ? Again, depending on what your target audience is and their market size, it could be very likely that there still is a big piece of the pie left for you.

I would recommend not talking to random people. Talk to people who are in your target market instead. And don't just ask if it's a good idea. Ask them if they would want to pay $X per month for it.