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Who are your Competitors

You are practically never alone in the market you want to operate in.

There will always be one or more companies providing a similar service or product meeting the same demand as yours. They are all competing with you and want to get in contact with the same customers.

Know your competitors

Know your competitors – even better than they do themselves. Also learn from them.

First, identify them, and then find out as much information about them as possible.

• How many are they?
• How widespread are they - geographically?
• What is their staffing level?
• What services do they offer?
• What is their price level?
• How is their quality?
• What are their weaknesses, if any?
• What is their image among their customers?

Sources of information

You can get such information in many ways. You can call a rival company and request brochures, find them on the internet, visit the shop, seek information at the library, buy their products, interview people who have bought rival products, etc.

If there are too many competitors for you to know them each individually, you must determine the total number of competitors and try to pinpoint the ones presenting the biggest threat to your own existence.

Cooperation

Often, it can be worthwhile considering your competitors as your colleagues or collaborators.
If the market for your service is sufficiently wide or has the potential of expansion, then all parties would benefit from cooperation.

If you get an order too big for you to handle on your own, two competitors/colleagues may come in handy and help fulfilling the requirement.

Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.
- Seth Godin, American marketer