I've automated mostly everything from getting weather data, to soon giving people refunds, to soon ad sales.
I mostly try to ignore competition and stubbornly make what I would like to use myself. It helps that I am a "nomad" myself, so I know kinda what they need.
Also one more answer: I think BECAUSE I work almost 100% alone, I work faster than big teams (the mythical man month thing). The stuff I make isn't top-notch, but it works just good enough for people to enjoy using it. It's not super hip flashy designed, but it does what users want it to do. I see many other (especially funded) startups build really flashy stuff with huge 20+ people teams. And it looks great but it's not simple to use for people.
You've mentioned something about automating. Can you tell me more about it and which you've decided to not use?
As for competition, how do you specifically handle this?