Competitive advantage gain is hard but competitive advantage retention is even harder. That is why extensive analysis and strategy are key to success. Our Competitive Landscape Analysis (Part 2) presentation allows you to evaluate your position in the market, understand how you compare against competitors and hone in on the most important objectives to create an effective roadmap.
Use this slide to list and discuss your top competitors. Make sure to include the vital information about them, such as what kind of competitor they are (direct or indirect), their positioning, pricing, strengths and weaknesses.
With this slide, communicate the areas for competitive advantage improvement. These include corporate culture, under-serviced niches identification, unique value proposition establishment and your ideal customer DNA identification.
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) states: "Market research helps you find customers for your business. Competitive analysis helps you make your business unique." To find a competitive advantage for your business, SBA recommends combining the two.
Using market research to find customers – gather demographic information to discover opportunities and limitations for customer growth (examples: data on age, income, family and interests). Then answer these questions to get a good sense of your market: Is there a desire for your product or service? How many people would be interested in your offering? What are the income range and employment rate? Where do your customers live and where can your business reach? How many similar options are already available to consumers? What do potential customers pay for these alternatives? The methods you can use to do direct research are surveys, questionnaires, focus groups and in-depth interviews.
Using competitive analysis to find a market advantage – assess the following characteristics of the competitive landscape: market share, strengths and weaknesses, your window of opportunity to enter the market, the importance of your target market to your competitors, limitations that may prevent you from entering the market and indirect competitors who may impact your success. Make sure to differentiate your competitive analysis by industry, taking into consideration the level of competition, the threat of new competitors or services, and the effect of suppliers and customers on price.
Gaining a competitive advantage is tough because the majority of sales and pitches are usually "killed by the silent but deadly alternative: Status Quo." But this, of course, in no way means that the situation is hopeless. There are ways to put up a good fight. "Accepting and acknowledging the competitor is the best place to start, and it goes a long way," a venture capitalist, Michael Smerklo, writes in his piece for Forbes. By doing so, Smerklo argues, you'll gain the following:
1. Your product or service will be seen in an entirely new light – accepting the Status Quo pushes entrepreneurs and business managers to rethink all aspects of storytelling. "This acknowledgment alone," Smerklo says, "will spark a much different discussion than previously experienced (even with the same customer or investor), and will set you apart from all the other pitches."
2. You will see your strategic position in an entirely new light – when you integrate the Status Quo into your narrative, it becomes clear that all parts of your business: fundraising, marketing, sales and strategy will need modification to address the alternative. In fact, this step may force you to rethink or alter your product or business model entirely. Smerklo says: "While this sounds daunting, it is a much easier and cost-efficient exercise to undertake as opposed to the alternative: the long, slow death of disinterest."
3. Your go-to-market strategy will never be the same – when your messaging to address the Status Quo is altered, you will need a new strategy to overcome your prospective competition. Your value proposition will be stress tested and driven to be more specific and may end up being more exact "F/U/D" (fear/uncertainty/doubt), more detailed in ROI calculations or requiring extreme positive outcomes from buying/investing in your solution. "Whatever it is," Smerklo says, "some of the greyness will be forced out of the value proposition and it will make your pitch to prospects much more specific and sharp."