Janos Starker once played in a competition where he got the 6th place award and his student got 3rd place. You must learn to live with rejection and must learn to persevere. You must assume you are going to win. It is very difficult to get artist management these days. You can only get management if you can prove that you don't need it.
Agents rely on competitions to determine which artists have solo career potential.
Everybody is so good these days that it is hard to tell who is better. Evan Drachman, grandson of Piatigorsky, travels throughout the country, playing in small towns, nursing homes, schools, etc. He founded the Piatigorsky Foundation, which is dedicated bring live performances to those who would not ordinarily get to hear them and to increase the performing opportunities for young performers. So there is a vast pool of potential listeners to attract. Tell the audiences about the pieces before you play them so that can follow along better.