Who Are Your Competitors?
Lesson 2 from: FAST CLASS: Business 101: Start-up ConsiderationsKaren Okonkwo
Who Are Your Competitors?
Lesson 2 from: FAST CLASS: Business 101: Start-up ConsiderationsKaren Okonkwo
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Who Are Your Competitors?
So who are your competitors? So, um, I think it's really important for you to determine your competitors because it, you just need to know who is out there and it really makes sense for you to not just know who your competitors are, but know their strengths, their weaknesses, opportunities and threats. So some of this may be very old news to some of you. Maybe it's new news. But one of the things that was really important for us and myself whenever I embarked into business was to do a swat analysis not only myself but also myself as a business, but also my competitors. So on your worksheet, I did include in the last, on the last page of swat analysis. I really encourage you to print that out several times or do it digitally online. Um, for your competitors, list them out. It's important for you again to know who they are. So here is the first slide here which talks about strengths. So your competitor, you want to ask questions like, you know, what does their business do well? You know,...
what is the differentiating resource that your business that their business provides? Um, you know, what do others see as that particular business strength? And again, it takes time. It's something that you're going to have to dedicate before you even go live with your own business, go around and go to your competitors and ask them if they're willing to do that. Actually went to some of my competitors and I ask them certain questions like this. And of course you can find this information online too, but it's just important to understand what they are doing well, because your competitor isn't, isn't there doing things well? And so either you're going to enter in a line with them or you're going to be better than them, hopefully better than them. Um, Okay, the next here are opportunities. So the questions that you can ask are what areas in the market are they open to are open to them. What trends can they leverage or you leverage? Um, how can you or they turn their strengths into opportunities. So those are questions that you can try to uncover and identify uh, next here for weaknesses. Um, this is basically being honest with yourself and figuring out what, you know, you're not doing well or what the competitors are not doing well. So, uh, you know, what resource in your business is lacking. Um, you know, what do others see as your businesses weaknesses? Examples of weaknesses could be, you know, what's trending right now, which is diversity? Is your business as diverse as it could be? It's okay, that that is a weakness. But now you've got a channel that and say how can I make my business more diverse? So these are just some questions that you can ask yourself during doing a swat analysis and then threats. Um, so basically what are the disadvantages that could harm your business? You know, um, what need is your competition fulfilling that you're not, What, what threats does your weaknesses subject your business too? You know, how long can you stay flying under the radar? There a lot of businesses who have fizzled out because they did not want to change with how the economy is changing. There's some businesses who don't have a social media presence and needless to say they're not garnering as much attention and as much profit as other businesses. So, so what is a threat for you if you, you know, are not able to to change? So again, a swat analysis, it sounds very elementary, but it actually is very beneficial. And we did that with our stock photography business and that's why we are doing so well.
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