How to assess: What does the competition do well and doesn't do well?

With one more post after this one to complete the series (eleven market research related questions that a new business owner and founder should be asking), we continue with the topic of competitors and cover the question "What does the competition do well and doesn't do well?"

We first began the topic of competitors with defining who are your competitors. As a recap, direct competitors are those businesses that offer products or services that can be viewed as a straight swap or substitute for the products and services you sell. On the other hand, indirect competitors offer products and services that solve the problem(s) of customers, but are not necessarily straightforward substitutes for the products and services you sell.

In the previous post, we spoke about how to conduct your own competitor assessment. Using the questions in the previous post to guide you, you can develop an analysis of competitors and then benchmarking your own brand against your competitors. You will be able to determine what your competitors do well, as opposed to what they are not doing so well to draw conclusions about your brand's own strengths and weaknesses. Having awareness of your brand's weaknesses will help you to identify areas to invest time and resources and that will drive growth into your business.

HubSpot offers a short YouTube video offering some additional tips on how to conduct a competitor analysis, including a free template.

Carrying out a competitor analysis should be proactive and should not be reactive. From your analysis, decide on what learnings you can take from your competitors as a result, and what actions you can make in your own business to increase the attractiveness of your products and services and your reach of your target customers. Always keep in mind your target customers' needs and how you add value to your customers before rushing to replicate what your competitors do. Competitor analysis should help your brand to stand out and lead instead of trying to catch up to competitors.

A market research expert can support you in answering questions about who is your competition and how to increase the attractiveness of your products and services in relation to your target customers. If you would like to hear more, please reach out via the Contact Form for a free consult call. I help owners of small businesses to be clear in communicating the scope of their offers and in identifying their ideal clients or customers.