It's not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ~ Charles Darwin

How to Be One Step Ahead of Competition?

by Dragan

Every entrepreneur wants their business to be one step ahead of competition. This objective will improve the overall market position of the business and will bring constant business growth.

How to be one step ahead of competition

As a part of 15 Small Business Marketing Advices for 2010 one of that advices for entrepreneurs was to be one step closer to your customers and one step ahead of your competition. Here are some of the most important elements that can help you to be one step ahead of competition.

This is a combination of knowledge about most important business elements as competition, customers and products and services that will make your business always to be ahead of the competition. After collecting substantial knowledge for these three important elements your job as an entrepreneur is to improve all your business processes according to that knowledge.

Know Your Competition

You want to be ahead of your competition in every business aspect. Because you want to be one step ahead of competition you must to know what your competitors make to exist on the market. You must answer the following questions about your competitors:

  • Who are the most important competitors?
  • What are their products and services?
  • What are the benefits and features that they offer with their product and services?
  • Where they are finding their customers?
  • Who are their most important customers?
  • How your competitors convince their customers to buy?
  • How much they charge for their product or services?
  • Where are they marketing their product and services?
  • How they are marketing their product and services?
  • How they are making recruitment of their staff?

Think about implementing the system for monitoring the competition that will collect answers about that questions and give you the real time information.

Know Your Customers

Your business and your competition compete for the same customers. The business that will win in this battle will receive the larger portion of the market.

  • Who are your ideal customers?
  • How much they want to pay for your products and services?
  • What are they wanting in the form of their benefits?
  • Where are they located in most of their time?
  • What are their buying habits?

If you know your customers you will know how they decide about products and services when they are choosing between you and your competitors.

Know Your Products and Services

Products and services that your business offer to the market is something that your ideal customers will buy. They are the subject for the battle on the market. If you want to be one step ahead of competition your business must offer better products and services.

  • Are your products and services compatible with your ideal customers?
  • Are the costs plus a profit margin is lower or equal to what your ideal customers want to pay for it?
  • Are your products and services giving them what they want in a form of benefits?
  • What is the main difference between your products and services and your competitors products and services?

Improve

Never ending activity is to improve upon collected knowledge about competition, customers and products and services. This is the force that will move your business one or more steps ahead of your competition.

  • Improve your knowledge about your competitors and use it to improve all your business activities. Start doing the same what they do but in a better way.
  • Improve your knowledge about your ideal customers and your target market and satisfy their needs.
  • Improve your products and services to be better from competition’s products and services and better satisfy the needs of your ideal customers.

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Filed Under: Small Business Marketing

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About Dragan

Dragan Sutevski is a business developer and consultant, helping small business owners to find their own road to success.

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  1. 15 Small Business Marketing Advices for 2010 says:
    28/01/2010 at 17:21

    [...] On the other hand, constantly analyze the competition and find their weaknesses. What are they doing in the field of marketing? What they don’t do in the field of marketing? Everything that your competitors are doing, you do the same, but in a better way. You can read more in How to Be One Step Ahead of Competition? [...]

    Reply
  2. Easier Business Life for Entrepreneurs says:
    27/02/2010 at 23:41

    [...] Some advices about following the competition you can read in: How to Be One Step Ahead of Competition? [...]

    Reply
  3. Business Idea - What's Next? says:
    13/03/2010 at 18:22

    [...] important element after the products, services and market are competitors. Do not make the mistake of underestimation of the competitors, because the success of your [...]

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  4. Business Information: Oldness or Relevance? says:
    05/04/2010 at 16:02

    [...] Competitors. What they offer? How they are selling their products and services? What are their future plans? [...]

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  5. System - How to Implement in Business? says:
    06/04/2010 at 13:37

    [...] example, we can talk about systems of continuous learning, monitoring of competition, communication with customers, communication with potential customers… All of these are only [...]

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    08/01/2011 at 19:00

    [...] is the first thing that every business owner is
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  7. 4 Entrepreneurship Lessons from The Godfather – Entrepreneurship In A Box says:
    29/01/2011 at 10:01

    [...] It is an important rule that also must be applied in a business world. You must love your enemies (competitors), because you want to collect more knowledge about them. You must love your enemies, because you want to make them more predictable for the purposes of your decision making process. You must love your enemies if you want to be one step ahead from him. [...]

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  8. Competitive Advantage - Is it Strong Enough? – Entrepreneurship In A Box says:
    30/03/2011 at 18:59

    [...] it comes to building competitive advantage the competition would be your milestone in building such an [...]

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  9. Customer Relationship - 50 Reccomendations for Business Success – Entrepreneurship In A Box says:
    10/01/2012 at 20:58

    [...] Don’t tell them, educate them about differences between your business and competitors. [...]

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  10. Competitive Analysis - Template – Entrepreneurship In A Box says:
    20/03/2012 at 20:06

    [...] Competitive Analysis – Template by Dragan Competitive analysis is the heart of successful businesses. You need to know your competition and how your company actually performs in correlation with them if you want always to be one step ahead from competition. [...]

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