%myhash = @_; #this is where the problem is!!
	
	foreach $key (keys %myhash) {

		%subhash = %{$myhash{$key}};
		
		foreach $subkeys (keys %subhash){

			$subkey_val = $subhash{$subkeys};
			
			#print "$subkeys and $subkey_val\n";
			
			if ($subkeys eq "competitor_firm" && $subkey_val eq ""){
				
				delete $competitors_only{$key};
			
			}

		}

	}