Nov 17, 2014
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Making you stronger!
Business can be tough. Trying to start up a new business can be even more tough. You have to have a big idea. But having a good idea is simple not enough, you then have to get others to believe in your idea to raise the capital needed to start production. Once you have an idea and backing you need to get consumers to believe in your product or service and adopt it. This would be easy if you were the only one doing what you were doing but chances are you have competition and in some categories, a lot of competition.
In business competition can be a terrible thing but it can also be the greatest thing if you learn how to learn from your competitors. Often times you will learn exactly what you need to do with your product or service as you observe how your competitor operates. There are a few simple ways that you can learn from your competitors that will make a huge difference in increasing your company’s profits!
What are people saying about them?
What are people saying about your competitors products or services? With social media adoption at an all time high you can easily see what people are saying by looking at their twitter or Facebook pages. As you look at their pages try and find posts that are both critical as well as positive. As you take in the negative as well as the positive chances are your mind will be filled with ideas for your product. You will be able to make your product better and give consumers what they are asking for.
What is their media strategy?
Figure out how your competitor is reaching your target market. If they are the brand leader then chances are they are reaching the greatest number of people because they have large budgets. But look and see how they use advertising online and in print. Figure how they time their market and when they run advertising campaigns. You may not have as big of a budget but you can figure out how to better reach your target market and thus grow your brand recognition as well as profits.
What is working for them?
The secret to success often times is very simple. Figure out what works, copy that idea, and make it better. The problem here is that often times we think that to make things better we need to add features and such. But true innovation really means to simplify things. Make the product or service easier to use, simply things. Find out what doesn’t work don’t do that. Get familiar with your competitors product or service, use them and then figure out how use that information to improve your product.
Your competitors do not have to be your enemies. They can be your ticket to success if you simply figure out how to leverage what they are doing to help your company. This process is not always easy and it can expose flaws or faults in your own products or services. Be open for change and sometimes that means big change. In the words of Woody Allen, “If you don’t fail now and again, it’s a sign you’re playing it safe.”
This article gives some great ideas and some great success stories.