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<< Advertising Gathering Information For Your Business Plan >>Despite what you may think ….. competition is very healthy. By having competitors you are guaranteed that the marketplace still wants your product or service. Competition also helps to keep you abreast of changes and trends around you.
To keep you ahead of your competitors, you need to know everything you possibly can about them. The easiest way to see at a glance where you and your products or services fit amongst the competition is through spreadsheets.
Do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis on each competitor and a separate spreadsheet on competing products.
Summarise how their businesses are doing … are they steady? growing? dwindling? why? what clients are they targeting and attracting? Other things you may want to include in the competitor spreadsheet could be ….
- their size
- marketshare
- growth
- financial position
- available capital and resources
- image and reputation
- marketing strategy
- brand awareness or visibility
- target markets
- business development
- management structure
- technology
- location
- and any other attributes you consider important.
For the product or service analysis, you could include …..
- comparative products
- prices
- service quality
- availability
- benefits offered
- features
Describe your major competitors in terms of factors that most influence your revenue … in order of who you are most scared of.
How much do they impact on or influence your business? What are they doing right or wrong? What threats or opportunities do they represent? What are you doing better?
If you know how the people in your target market choose one provider over another, this valuable exercise will help you to determine where to position yourself in the marketplace ….. where you think you can show the difference.
Just remember …. if your competition disappears, it’s time to change your business model!
I’d love to have your input and questions … as I’m sure many others would, so let’s have your comments below.
QUOTE OF THE DAY …
“You create a customer by convincing him overwhelmingly that you are the lowest-risk, highest-value, easiest person and company to do business with!“
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