Analyze Your Competitors and Differentiate
Develop a profile of your competitors and differentiate your business from them. In order to differentiate your business from competitors, you must understand their strengths and weaknesses.
View the Example: Competition and Differentiation
Action
If you have set up a working copy of your business plan using the Shell™, this information will be entered under section 3 “Marketing” under the heading 3.4 “Competition and Differentiation.”
- Review the market research and the results from Step 22.
- List the names and locations of major competitors.
- Compare various competitors on the basis of appearance of their business sites, the layout of their operations, number of employees, and how long they have been in business.
- Compare products and services between different businesses.
- Note similarities and differences in brand, features, benefits, and prices.
- Estimate the sales or market share for each competitor.
- Compare all competitors strengths and weaknesses.
- Determine why customers buy from your competitors.
- Differentiate your business from the competitors and clarify why the customer will buy from your business.
- Develop this Element and enter it into the working copy of your business plan.
- Save any important comparisons or survey and test results in the Appendices.
- Tables can be used to demonstrate the comparisons and differences between competitors.