I'm glad you brought this up!I have mixed views on that.Yes I will go after other companys jobs,BUT!!!!!!Only if they have taken or have tryed to take one of my clients.Other than that,I will never go after other companys clients.I try to be as freindly as possible with the other companys in my city.And becouse I am very freindly with my competition,almost everyone in my city does not go after my work.I think that if you do go after others work it often starts a war.The other thing is often your competition's clients will only switch to your company if the price is right,and having large numbers of clients like that is a very bad thing!!!
An other example is a fellow in my city.He went from a beat up old truck and a crapsman lawn tractor to 3 crews about 5 plow trucks,large tractor and so on in about 4 years.How did he do it???He under bid everyone elses jobs and did the work for about 1/2 the price of others.That worked for a few years,but if caught up to him.He racked up a massive debt,and was hurting pretty bad.As soon as all the lawn care businesses in our city learned about that,They all(including me)went after his work becouse they knew he was going bankrupt.Lesson is if you go after others work it me hurt you more in the long run!!!!
The best way to make more money is raise your prices,and build up more work in your current area that you work in.
Hope this helps!