Business is all about competition. There is no business without a competitor. Whether you know them or not, they exist. All businesses face competition. It’s normal. But do you know who your business competitors are? Have you ever endeavoured to find out about them?
In our traditional business, we made a survey when we were writing our business plan. It helped us to know our business competitors, mainly in Uganda. These are businesses with which we are in the same industry, offering similar products and services. They offer engraving and media printing services, which we also do. Secondly, they design graphics and websites, which we also do in our company.
To find out more about them, we went to their businesses. We visited their websites, purchased their items, and got their contacts. Secondly, we befriended their workers to learn more about them. We did all that because we wanted to discover the following:
- The products and services our business competitors offer
- The customers they target
- The prices they charge
- What kind of people are
- The type of technology they use
- The sort of businesses they run
- The size of their businesses
- Their marketing techniques
- How they deliver the products and services
- The kind of people they employ
- How long they have been in business
- What is unique about them
How Did the Information About our Business Competitors Help Us?
The above information helped us know more about them to position ourselves better. For instance, we discovered the technology used to produce the products and services. We found the kind of products and services they focused on most. Why do they concentrate on such products and services? We also discovered the methods they use to get customers.
The above discovery prompted us to venture into laser engraving, a technology that produces high-quality products and services at a rapid pace. It also made us think about concentrating more on producing unique products.
Why Is It, Therefore, Essential to Know Your Business Competitors?
As already mentioned, competition is everywhere in business. Having business competitors should be looked at positively. Never feel bad about your business competitors! Knowledge about the business competition you face helps you do better in your business. You learn from your competitors. It helps you discover marketing strategies that capitalise on their weaknesses, thus improving your business performance.
Recently, we tried to find out who my business competitors are as far as online visibility is concerned. We checked the search engine visibility of our website vis-à-vis that of our competitors. Most of them are visible on Google but invisible on other search engines.
In Google, their visibility is because of their listing in most Ugandan online directories. But the majority do not have a business website. It’s beneficial information which we can rely on to position ourselves better in business. It helps us to understand their winning marketing strategies.
A detailed analysis of your business competitors, therefore, helps you to:
First, know what you do better than them to strengthen.
Secondly, identify what they do better than you so that you learn from them.
Thirdly, what they do like you helps you become more creative.
How Can You Learn About Your Business Competitors?
I have mentioned some of the ways above. But let’s summarise it to make the point more understandable. You can learn about your business competitors in any business you do by doing the following:
- Learn more about them and consider reading their business literature and reports if they are available.
- Visit their businesses and befriend their workers where possible. They will give you the detailed information.
- Go to trade fairs or exhibitions and see what your business competitors exhibit, their promotional activities and the kind of visitors they get.
- Visit the websites of your business competitors. You can find a lot of information there.
- Interact with some of the customers of your business competitors. You will get to know why they are attracted to them.
Conclusion
Competition is everywhere. It’s normal. There is no single business that does not have business competitors. Sometimes one may not bother to know them. Some people feel wrong about them when they see them doing more business than them. Ideally, that’s not good. What’s healthy is to learn from them to make changes for improved business performance. They will help you work on your business, and finally, you will be better off.
Do you know who your business competitors are? How did you find out about them?
0 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks