How to Do a Competitive Analysis
Learn the best way to conduct a competitor analysis, and how it can help you improve your products or services.
- Conduct a routine competitor analysis to understand your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, and to identify gaps in the marketplace.
- A competitor analysis can help you enhance your product or service, better serve your target audience, and increase your profits.
- A competitor analysis should include your competitors’ features, market share, pricing, marketing, differentiators, strengths, weaknesses, geography, culture and customer reviews.
- This article is for new and established small business owners who want to analyze their competition to improve their products or services.
It is important to analyze your competition at various stages of your business to ensure that you are providing the best possible product or service at the right price for your customers. Learn more about what a competitor analysis is, why conducting this analysis routinely can help your business achieve success, and the seven-step process for conducting one.
What is a competitor analysis?
A competitor analysis is the process of identifying businesses in your market that offer similar products or services to yours and evaluating them based on a set of predetermined business criteria. A good competitor analysis will help you see your business and competitors through your customers’ eyes to pinpoint where you can improve.
“A competitor analysis focuses on identifying market participants positioned to encroach on your opportunity and isolates each participant’s operational strengths, substantive weaknesses, product offerings, market dominance, and missed opportunities,” David M.M. Taffet, CEO of Petal, told business.com.
A competitor analysis is an in-depth examination of your competition's strengths and weaknesses to see how your business compares.
Why is a competitor analysis important?
It is important to conduct routine competitor analyses throughout the lifecycle of your business to stay up to date with market trends and product offerings. A competitor analysis can reveal pertinent information about market saturation, business opportunities and industry best practices.
It is also important to know how your customers view you in comparison to your competition. A competitor analysis will give you a better idea of what services are currently available to your target customer and what areas are being neglected.
“In some cases, you may find that you are at a competitive disadvantage, in which case you may need to make a change in order to maintain your sales volumes,” said Josh Rovner, business consultant and bestselling author of Unbreak the System. “In other cases, you may notice that you have an advantage that could enable you to make a change that increases your sales or profit.”
A competitor analysis is important for both offense and defense. Comparing your business to your competition shows you where you can improve as well as where you are excelling. It may even help you identify a new niche that you can take advantage of.
No Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.