Positioning Your Business Idea in the Market

Define your market!

Ah, the good old days when the world seemed like a quaint little village, where traffic was limited to horse-drawn carriages and businesses were nothing more than small mom-and-pop shops. But oh how times have changed! 
Nowadays, the world is a bustling metropolis where traffic is international and businesses have transformed into massive corporations with offices sprouting up all over the globe.  
As an entrepreneur, you can no longer afford to think that your product is the only one out there. 
No sir, you’re in for a rough and tumble battle, and the only way to come out victorious is by figuring out who your enemies are. 
In this lesson, we’ll take a deep dive into the various types of competitors that a business may face.

Entrepreneur's Toolkit: Turn Your Idea into a Successful Product

Prior to commencing the initial lesson of this course, it is of paramount importance that, as entrepreneurs, we initiate the process by downloading your toolkit. 
For this course, the fundamental versions of the compelling apps are available at no cost. 
These applications are exceptionally beneficial, as they will be employed to concentrate on developing your business idea throughout the entire duration of the course.

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Business Model Canvas

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SWOT PRO

Competitors

In general, there are several types of competitors that a business may face, they are:
Direct Competitors: These are businesses that offer the same or similar products or services to the same target market as your business. They are considered to be the most significant threat to your business.
Indirect Competitors: These are businesses that offer different products or services, but to the same target market as your business. They may not be direct competitors, but they could be considered substitutes for your products or services.
Substitute Competitors: These are businesses that offer alternative products or services that could be used instead of your business’s offerings. For example, a milk substitute for lactose intolerant people.
Complementary Competitors: These are businesses that offer products or services that complement or enhance your business’s offerings. They may not be direct competitors, but they could be considered partners or suppliers.
New Entrants: These are businesses that are new to the market and have not yet established themselves as competitors. They could be considered potential threats to your business in the future.
Niche Competitors: These are businesses that specialize in a specific niche or segment of the market. They may not have the same market share or scale as other competitors, but they can still be a significant threat to your business.
Global Competitors: These are businesses that operate on a global scale and may not be directly competing with your business in your local market, but they could still be considered a threat due to their size and resources.
Want to stay ahead of the competition? It’s crucial to keep an eye on who you’re up against, as it can change over time. In the next chapters, we’ll show you how to use Google like a pro to gather intel on your competitors and how our SWOT application can help you compare your idea with the market and stay up-to-date at all times. 
Don’t miss out on this game-changing tool, download our app now and give your strategy a boost!

Discover your competitors

This lesson will drive entrepreneurs to discovering their competitors using various online tools.
In today’s fast-paced business world, it’s essential to stay ahead of the competition and understand the market.
To do this, we’ve composed a specific funnel that using some of the best tools for research will allow you to discover your competitors and take an advantage from their strategies
  1. Google: Use Google to search for companies that offer similar products or services. We select the top 3 relevant competitor and compare their product with your idea.
  2. LinkedIn: Use LinkedIn to search for companies in your industry and see who their employees are. This can give you insights into the company’s structure and team, and will allow you to better define your business model canvas.
  3. SEMrush: This is a powerful tool that allows you to see where your competitors are getting their traffic from and which keywords they are targeting, that’s a huge advantage to define channels, customer relationship and define the first draft of your marketing campaign.

Discovering Your Competitors Using Google

In this chapter, we will explore how to use Google to search for companies and track trends in your industry.
Use the Google search bar
The Google search bar is located at the top of the home page and can be used to search for companies, products, and other information. 
To search for companies that offer similar products or services, simply type in keywords related to your industry and hit enter. For example, if you are in the fashion industry, you might type in “online clothing stores” or “fashion retailers.”
Analyze the search results
Once you have completed your search, take a look at the top results. 
These are the companies that are currently ranking the highest for the keywords you searched for. 
Take note of their website, their products, and their overall online presence. 
This will give you a sense of their market position and how they are positioning themselves to their potential customers.

Another step in your journey 🛣️

Create your first Competitor Landscape 🧐

Let’s get the ball rolling with a new SWOT analysis dedicated to our main competitors. Choose up to three competitors for this analysis and create three SWOT using the name of your competitors. 😊
Get the SWOT app right here; it’s compatible with both iOS and Android devices, and it’s completely free to download.
Once you have identified your competitors and created the SWOT analysis you are ready to define the main 4 aspect.
  1. Strengths: Identify what your competitors are doing well. This could be a unique product feature, a strong brand, or a loyal customer base.
  2. Weaknesses: Identify what your competitors are not doing well. This could be a lack of innovation, a weak brand, or poor customer service.
  3. Opportunities: Identify opportunities for growth or improvement in the market that your competitors are not taking advantage of.
  4. Threats: Identify any external factors that could impact your competitors’ performance, such as changes in technology or regulations.
We’ll circle back to tackle those aspects later in the course. 🔄
Keep in mind that when conducting LinkedIn research, our initial emphasis will be on the first two quadrants: Strengths and Weaknesses. These areas are primarily centered around self-analysis of the company.
Following this, we’ll expand our focus beyond the company itself to examine external factors, including Opportunities and Threats. This broader analysis will encompass the global market, competitor size, and various other aspects, utilizing tools such as SEMRush.

Discovering Your Competitors Using LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for discovering and researching your competitors. By searching for companies in your industry, you can gain valuable insights into their structure, team, and overall business strategy. In this chapter, we will explore how to use LinkedIn to search for companies in your industry and learn more about their employees this will give us tons of insight related to the internal structure.
Create a LinkedIn account
To begin using LinkedIn to search for companies, you will first need to create a LinkedIn account. This is a simple process that can be completed in just a few minutes. Once you have created your account, you can start searching for companies in your industry.
Use the LinkedIn search bar
The LinkedIn search bar is located at the top of the home page and can be used to search for companies, people, and other information. To search for companies in your industry, simply type in keywords related to your industry and hit enter. For example, if you are in the software development industry, you might type in “software development companies” or “software development firms.”
View company profiles
Once you have found a company that you are interested in researching, click on the company name to view their LinkedIn profile. This will give you access to valuable information about the company, including their size, location, industry, and more. Additionally, you will be able to view the company’s employees, which can give you insights into the company’s structure and team.
Analyze the company and its employees
Now that you have accessed the company’s LinkedIn profile, you can start analyzing the company and its employees. Look at the company’s employee count, their location, and the seniority of the employees. This will give you a sense of the company’s size and the level of experience of their employees.
You can also look at the employees’ job titles and their previous companies. This will give you an idea of the company’s structure and the level of experience of their employees.

Second step for the funnel 🛣️

Add Linkedin insights related to your competitor 🧐

Let’s get the ball rolling with a new SWOT analysis dedicated to our main competitors. Choose up to three competitors for this analysis and create three SWOT using the name of your competitors. 😊
Once you have collected tons of insight about your competitors, you are ready to find the right angle.
It’s possible that you understand that some of your competitor is not so relevant for you, or he is focused in a complementary products  🤩that’s exactly the purpose of the funnel, ghartering information that increase your knowledge in the market.
Let’s review the 4 quarter using the data collected
  1. Strengths: what’s about the size of the company, is bigger than you? in which area? they are just selling the product or the key activity that you are focus on are the same?
  2. Weaknesses: what’s your idea or company structure is better? describe why
We’ll circle back to tackle those aspects later in the course. 🔄

Discovering Your Competitors Using SEMrush

SEMrush is a powerful tool that allows you to gain insight into your competitors’ online presence and marketing strategies. By analyzing their website traffic, keywords, and advertising campaigns, you can gain a better understanding of what they are doing well and where they may be falling short. This information can then be used to inform your own marketing efforts and give you an edge over your competitors.
One of the first things you can do with SEMrush is to analyze your competitors’ website traffic. By entering your competitor’s website into the tool, you can see important metrics such as their monthly unique visitors, the average time spent on their site, and their bounce rate. This information can give you an idea of how engaged their audience is and how well their website is performing.
Another useful feature of SEMrush is the ability to see which keywords your competitors are targeting. By entering your competitor’s website into the tool, you can see a list of the keywords they are ranking for and how they compare to your own website. This information can be used to inform your own keyword research and help you identify any gaps in your own content strategy.
SEMrush also allows you to analyze your competitors’ advertising campaigns. By entering your competitor’s website into the tool, you can see which keywords they are bidding on and how much they are spending on their campaigns. This information can be used to inform your own advertising strategy and help you identify any gaps in your own campaigns.
For example, If you own a clothing store, you can use SEMrush to analyze a competitor’s website and find out the following information:
The competitor’s website receives an average of 50,000 unique visitors per month.
The competitor’s website has a bounce rate of 30%, indicating that their audience is engaged with their content.
The competitor is ranking for keywords related to “summer fashion” and “men’s clothing”
The competitor is running Google Ads campaigns targeting keywords like “summer clothing sale” and “men’s fashion” and spend $1000 per month.
With this information, you can see that your competitor is putting a lot of emphasis on summer fashion and men’s clothing and they are spending a considerable amount on advertising. You can use this information to inform your own content and advertising strategies. For example, you might want to focus on creating content and running campaigns that target the same keywords as your competitor or you might want to focus on a different niche or product that your competitor is not focusing on.

Another step in your journey 🛣️

Goo deep in the trend that your competitors are using 🧐

We already created a dedicated SWOT for each competitor 😊 it should be easy to understand what product they are pushing and what are the price strategy applied.
Get the SWOT app right here; it’s compatible with both iOS and Android devices, and it’s completely free to download.
Comparing your startup idea with the existing product of your main competitor can help you identify opportunities for differentiation and improvement. 
Here are a few steps you can take to compare your idea with your competitor’s product:
🕵️‍♂️🔎💼Understand the competitor’s product: Research your competitor’s product in depth. Understand its features, pricing, target market, and any unique selling points it may have.
✅❌🔍Identify similarities and differences: Compare your idea with the competitor’s product and identify similarities and differences. Look at things like features, target market, pricing, and overall value proposition.
💪📈🔍Analyze the competitor’s strengths and weaknesses: Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the competitor’s product. Look at things like customer feedback, reviews, and ratings to understand what customers like and dislike about the product.

Time to compare your idea with the potential competitor

Time to define How to create Competitive landscape using swot analysis

A Competitive landscape is a way to understand the market and identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of your competitors.
It’s time to create a SWOT matrix: Use the information you’ve gathered to create a SWOT matrix for each competitor. In the matrix, list their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Analyze the information: Look for patterns and trends in the information you’ve gathered. Identify which competitors are strong in certain areas and which areas they may be weak in.
Identify opportunities and threats: Use the information in the SWOT matrix to identify opportunities and threats for your own startup idea. Look for areas where your competitors are weak and where there may be untapped markets.
Use the information: Use the information from the SWOT analysis to review your BMC strategy.
Develop a plan to address the threats, capitalize on the opportunities, and mitigate the weaknesses.
Review and update: As the market and competitors evolve, review and update your Competitive landscape regularly to ensure you have the most up-to-date information.
By using SWOT analysis to create a competitive landscape, you can gain a better understanding of the market and the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, which can help inform your own business strategy and give you a competitive edge.

How create a price competitive landscape among my product and the competitor's product and what kind of price I should use if my competitor is more famous than me

Creating a price competitive landscape between your product and your competitor’s product can help you determine the appropriate pricing strategy for your business.
  1. Research your competitors’ pricing: Look at your competitor’s pricing for their products or services. Find out the prices for similar products or services and note any promotions or discounts they are offering.
  2. Analyze the value proposition: Compare the value proposition of your product with that of your competitors. Consider factors such as quality, features, and customer service when determining the value of your product.
  3. Identify your target market: Understand your target market and their needs, wants, and budget. This will help you determine what price point is appropriate for your target market.
  4. Consider your cost structure: Look at your own cost structure and determine what price you need to charge to cover your costs and make a profit.
  5. Analyze the market: Look at the market as a whole, understand the trends, and the customer’s needs and pain points. This can help you identify opportunities for differentiation and improvement.
  6. Test different pricing strategies: Test different pricing strategies, such as penetration pricing, skimming pricing, and value-based pricing, to see which one works best for your product and target market.
If your competitor is more famous than you, you should consider using a lower price point than your competitor to attract customers who are looking for a better deal. However, it’s important to keep in mind that pricing too low could also be a disadvantage, as it could lead to the perception of lower quality or value. It is essential to find the right balance between price, quality and customer’s perception.
Once you’ve determined the appropriate pricing strategy, it’s important to regularly review and adjust your pricing as necessary, based on changes in the market and your own cost structure.

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