No matter how clear you have your business idea, it is always a good idea to know the competition very well, even study it, so that your products and services are better positioned in the market. As long as you don’t get into industrial espionage, carefully studying your competitors will give you very valuable information.
Know your competitors
To begin with, it is necessary to identify them, both direct and indirect. Once you have the list of competitors, you can start studying each one of them. It is about collecting as much information as possible and doing it carefully: keep only the one that seems reliable to you.
The final stage is to make a synthesis of your competitors. A graphic representation will allow you to more easily identify the areas with the greatest competition and opportunities.
Once this analysis is done, you will be able to estimate your chances of success in that market and check if there are any opportunities that are presented to you. That information will allow you Work on your positioning .
Identify your direct and indirect competitors
To identify them, it is convenient to distinguish between the direct ones -those that offer a similar offer to the one you want to propose and that satisfy the same needs as those of your future clients- and the indirect ones -those that propose a different offer but also satisfy the same needs. than those of your future clients. If you use a table with two columns, the first will include the direct ones, the second the indirect ones.
If you know the sector of activity well and have already carried out a global study of the market, you should have already identified a considerable part of your future competitors. However, to identify all the companies in your sector that offer a similar offer to yours, the easiest solution is to use the internet. Currently, practically all companies have an internet presence.
Collect information to know your competitors
Once you have the list with all the direct and indirect competitors, you must carry out a study whose objective is to obtain the maximum information from each one of them. If you are not sure what information is particularly useful, we advise you to at least collect the following data: creation date; market share; characteristics of its offer and positioning; company size and financial results; strong and weak points ; strategy; organization and operation; growth and projects under development; notoriety; feedback from your customers…
