In whatever we do in life; whether it’s love, study, work or even business, competing is usually inevitable. This is why having an edge is essential and must be prioritized.
Having an initial plan is not always enough because you cannot always predict what’s going to happen. In business, there will be circumstances that you won’t expect so there will come a time that you will have to strategize along the way.
But, first of all as a business, it is of outmost importance that you establish your market. It is crucial that you do not only understand your business but also the needs of your customers. After knowing what they need, you can now focus on how to attract customers and convince them to purchase their needs on your product. This can be done with lots of different methods. In this case, what will make you ahead of your competitors is by studying the way they run their business and the perception of the customers towards them. This way, you can analyse their strengths and weaknesses which you could use to improve your productivity and product as well as sales quality.
Now that you know about your competitor’s you can now establish a better version of your business. You can then build your competitive advantage by making your products fill the gaps that your competitors leave. Do you notice any complaints or suggestions that are not being dealt with? Then you can use that to divert the attention of your customers from them to you thinking that you are better.
Now it’s time to get your products moving from your store shelves to your customers’ hands. Keep in mind that this is crucial because you can be confident that your product is better than anything out there, but when you’re a new business, you can’t just tell people that. You have to show them.
Reward is one way to motivate their retention. This is not to bribe them but to use the opportunity so they will spend more time with your product. More exposure will increase the chance that they will discover its benefits and its edge among others.
The time you invest in competitive research and product testing is important because once you’re there, you can concentrate on finding opportunities to hook new customers and win loyal fans for your brand by relying on the strength of the product.
When you’re taking your first steps into a competitive market, observe all of the polished, established and prominent brands and learn from them. But remember not to compare your step one to someone else’s step one hundred.
It is also better to start simply before you work progressively rather than set the bar high and end up falling and not meeting your customers’ expectations. Just don’t forget to trust your brand. Always work on delivering the best product and how you can promote it.
The truth is, as long as you have good understanding of the competition’s products and you’ve invested time into refining your product to fill a gap in the market, you start selling smoothly. Later on, developments will be made and you’ll notice that you are more confident than before thus you can think and decide over the matter.