True story: With high expectations, I recently attended a conference held by a nationally renowned company. Surprisingly, the company’s speakers weren’t very good and most of the curriculum was rehashed information I saw in other programs for years. The company was shocked by the lack of enthusiasm from the attendees. And we were shocked to hear the company tell us, “But no one else in the country is delivering this training the way we do.” They were operating from a false sense of security. They assumed they had the corner on the market and they were profoundly wrong. And they were big enough and well funded enough to absorb the cost of being wrong. But few small business owners can survive staking their claim on a mistake.
I want you to succeed. I want you to turn your talents and ideas into a profitable business that will out-perform your competition. The question becomes, “How?” Thankfully, the answer is simple: If you want to outshine your competition, you first need to understand them.
Understanding Your Competitors
These are the questions I encourage my clients to answer. Finding the answers will take research and even some reconnaissance but your efforts will be well worth it.
1. Who are your top 3 competitors? (A competitor is anyone in your field or industry who currently takes business from you or has the potential to take business from you.)
2. Why is _____________ my competitor?
3. How much are they dominating the __________ (your city or customer demographic) market?
4. What do they do that is similar to me?
5. Why are they successful?
6. What are their strengths?
7. What are their weaknesses?
8. What do they do that I’m not doing?
9. What do they sell that I’m not selling?
10. What opportunities is my competitor missing?
11. What types of customers is my competition ignoring?
12. To whom is my competition marketing?
13. How is my competition marketing?
14. How could my competitor take me down?
15. What service is my competition not providing?
16. What I am doing better than them?
17. What obvious problems can I solve that my competition is not?
18. What is unique about me and my business that I can leverage into a competitive edge?
Please note that understanding your competition is not the only answer. It is rather, a part of the whole equation. Things like your qualifications, your willingness to Crush It, your financial stability, your employees and your marketing/PR efforts amalgamate to determine your success. So consider this to be a first step.
What do you think? How important is understanding your competition? Is it possible to become too obsessed with knowing your competitors’ every move?
Photo courtesy of evelynishere.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s extremely critical to understand your competitive landscape and to note that they are out to crush you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spoken with companies who not only spend very little time analyzing their competition, but who also invest little to nothing into marketing. Big mistake. Marketing is hard work and you have to do it every month, year round.
As for complacency in the big leagues — the minor league folks are hungry and are eating away at the lazy teams record. Just a matter of time.
I did a good bit of research into competition when I got started and still regularly check up on them to see how they’re doing. I branded myself in a fairly specific niche and that has helped with my success thus far. The biggie is never becoming too comfortable and losing sight of how quickly someone else could knock me (or you) off the horse!
Great post, Alicia!
Kevin, you’re right. And being in the marketing world, this is what you do every day. I like the idea of assessing on a monthly basis. That’s a great way to stay on top of what is happening in your market.
Ben, smart move! You’re right – becoming comfortable is a danger. We should all take a little time to celebrate once we’ve reached our goals. But then we’ve got to get right at it again to continue to hold our market position. Congratulations on doing so much hard work before you’ve launched!