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When you’re running your own business, every minute of the day counts. But with an endless list of tasks and limited resources available, how do you ensure everything gets done and correctly? When it comes to small business operations, efficiency and effectiveness are key. Fortunately, with the help of a few different tools and methods, you can streamline your business – and free up time to focus on just doing your job. Know when to outsource Every small business owner knows that running one is a bit like spinning plates. While having a hand in lots of different pies might look impressive on paper, it can lead to several jobs half done. Doing everything in-house also puts you at risk of opportunity cost, especially if you have to pull someone away from their usual work to focus on a one-off project. Recognizing when jobs should be done by an outside consultant is a vital part of effective management. It’s more than just what it might cost to bring a freelancer in to pick up the slack, it’s what you might sacrifice if you don’t. The biggest benefit of the investment is that you’re paying for expertise without compromising on quality. Track business time automatically Automating time tracking allows you to know exactly how your business spends its time without wasting it in the process. With an accurate overview of every activity, from time spent on client calls to sales or editing proposals, you’ll get an idea of how much time goes into each project, client and internal admin. Here you can discover broken or inefficient processes and fix them to optimize operations. A complete and exact report of how you’ve spent your business’ time also allows you to bill clients accurately and transparently, so no one is left wondering where the extra budget went. Utilize centralized collaboration software From in-house communication and accounting to email marketing and scheduling – there’s an app for that. Take advantage of tech to take the time and hard labor out of the small tasks. Chat apps like Slack are ideal for catching up with the team when everyone’s snowed under, while project management software like Trello keeps workflow organized, allowing you to assign jobs, track progress and leave feedback via digital cards. Invest in skills development Employees are not meant to be masters of all trades (though that would be a boom for small businesses). Identify where your team’s strengths and weaknesses lies, and encourage and facilitate them to develop skills in those areas. Not only is it a rewarding enterprise; developing your employees gives them an edge and inspires them to greater productivity. Investing in your employee’s talents also allows you to effectively delegate, both freeing up your time and giving responsibility and a sense of mutual trust to your team members. Get everyone on the same page Defining business processes and rules ensures no time is lost, for example, double checking a delivery plan or client communication at a critical moment. Every person in your business should have a clear understanding of the limitations of their role and what actions they can undertake without clearance. A variety of different personalities and working styles can be united with clear frameworks. This architecture can align processes with business objectives, which is not only useful on the office floor, but promotes transparency for stakeholders too. #business #employee #progress #development #smallbusinesses #startups #orgnizations #team

Every company has it’s own set of priorities to help take it to the next level, and knowing which initiatives will make the greatest impact can be tough. But what makes a business prosperous and truly differentiates one organization from the rest is not the product it sells or the service it offers, it’s the people within it. Taking care of your employees doesn’t simply mean offering fun happy hours or paying for lunch once a week. Each person, no matter their level or where they choose to work, wants to feel genuinely cared for. An impactful way to do this is through a commitment to support their professional advancement and personal growth. Employee development is a long-term initiative, but it also leads to short-term benefits like increased loyalty and improved performance and engagement. Here are five ways you can begin improving employee development at your company. 1. Offer professional training from the get-go Setting your employees up for success in their role starts with giving them all the tools and resources they need to do their job well. This includes professional training. You can practice this from an employee’s first day and beyond by creating a knowledge base of critical information and best practices for new hires as you grow your team. For remote employees, they may not get the same opportunities to ask one-off questions at your desk, so creating a thorough training plan is especially important for getting them ramped up. 2. Help your managers become better coaches Part of becoming an effective coach is learning about your direct report; their unique strengths, what drains them, and what motivates them so you can help guide them on their path to success. One way to accomplish this is by asking the right questions at the right cadence. Here are 5 questions you can start asking your people every week during check ins and 1-on-1s: • What’s going well in your role? Any wins this week? • What challenges are you facing? • How are you feeling? What’s the morale around you? • On a scale of 1-10, how fulfilled are you? Why? • How can I become a better leader? Having intentional conversations on a regular basis will help you form deeper connections with your employees. These discussions will also contribute to building a more psychologically safe environment for employees to be open and honest. 3. Enhance cross-departmental collaboration A truly cohesive workforce that excels at cross-departmental training can help bridge the gap between cultures, give employees the opportunity to learn more about other parts of the business, and encourage more empathy across the board. But the truth is, most teams aren’t natural collaborators. Without the right structures in place to help your people to connect, some initiatives could run the risk of falling flat. For example, your marketing department is aiming to enhance the company’s brand with new content but doesn’t consult with the sales or customer service teams. If the marketing team isn’t fully aware of the unique pain points of their customers, the message most likely won’t resonate. Although this is just one instance, a collaboration problem could lead to more detrimental results. 4. Emphasize soft skills Unfortunately, these vital competencies are often de-emphasized in corporate environments. Even the name “soft skills” makes them seem relatively unnecessary, but “These skills are not ‘soft’ – they’re highly complex, take years to learn, and are always changing in their scope.” Businesses are a collection of human beings working together, so building core relationship skills, like the ability to collaborate and communicate, is one of the most important things that a company can encourage. 5. Invest in personal development Your employees don’t just exist in a professional capacity to serve your organization. They are whole human beings comprised of physical, intellectual, and emotional experiences. For them to evolve both personally and professionally, employee development must be holistic. This includes: Emotional balance Ask questions like, “How do you feel about your work lately? Are you struggling with anything?” This meets our basic needs to be seen, heard, acknowledged, and validated—needs that often go unmet in many work environments. Intellectual growth Books and seminars don’t just have to be about business. You can provide continuing education around personal finance or fostering healthy relationships. Physical health Encouraging your people to step away from their desks when the workday is complete and allowing them to practice more self care shows that you don’t just depend on the skills on their job description, but you care about them as people. When employees are given the tools to do their jobs well and train to advance in their careers, they are more likely to feel inspired to do their best work. And your reputation for stellar employee development might just encourage the best and brightest candidates to join your team. #employee #development #training #satisfaction #startups #business #entrepreneur

Not all entrepreneurship is the same. Below are the four different types of entrepreneurial businesses: 1. Small Business Entrepreneurship Today, the overwhelming number of entrepreneurs and startups in the United States are still small businesses. There are 5.7 million small businesses in the U.S. They make up 99.7% of all companies and employ 50% of all non-governmental workers. Small businesses are grocery stores, hairdressers, consultants, travel agents, internet commerce storefronts, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc. They are anyone who runs his/her own business. They hire local employees or family. Most are barely profitable. Their definition of success is to feed the family and make a profit, not to take over an industry or build a $100 million business. As they can’t provide the scale to attract venture capital, they fund their businesses via friends/family or small business loans. 2. Scalable Startup Entrepreneurship Unlike small businesses, scalable startups are what Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and their venture investors do. These entrepreneurs start a company knowing from day one that their vision could change the world. They attract investment from equally crazy financial investors – venture capitalists. They hire the best and the brightest. Their job is to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. When they find it, their focus on scale requires even more venture capital to fuel rapid expansion. Scalable startups in innovation clusters (Silicon Valley, Shanghai, New York, Bangalore, Israel, etc.) make up a small percentage of entrepreneurs and startups but because of the outsize returns, attract almost all the risk capital (and press.) 3. Large Company Entrepreneurship Large companies have finite life cycles. Most grow through sustaining innovation, offering new products that are variants around their core products. Changes in customer tastes, new technologies, legislation, new competitors, etc. can create pressure for more disruptive innovation – requiring large companies to create entirely new products sold into new customers in new markets. Existing companies do this by either acquiring innovative companies or attempting to build a disruptive product inside. Ironically, large company size and culture make disruptive innovation extremely difficult to execute. 4. Social Entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurs are innovators who focus on creating products and services that solve social needs and problems. But unlike scalable startups their goal is to make the world a better place, not to take market share or to create to wealth for the founders. They may be nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid. #entrepreneurship #businesses #scales #company #startups

We are told that the darkest days of the Great Recession are over, but sales have increased only slightly for some small-business owners, while revenue remains deeply depressed for many. While some customers are loosening up their wallets a little, it is clear purchasing habits have changed. Deep economic changes have occurred, and business will never be the same. Entrepreneurs, whether they're an unemployed person striking out on their own or a seasoned veteran trying to get the mojo back again, must do things differently in order to survive. Everyone must change, especially small-business owners. Luckily, what have not changed are the business fundamentals, those management traits that successful entrepreneurs almost all possess: tenacity, commitment and vision, and basic business skills. New strategies are required, however, strategies designed to work in a changing business climate. I've had a chance to develop and implement these strategies first-hand during the recession and its aftermath -- and have employed them myself. Not only have I consulted with many businesses over the years, but I've had a hand in running over 57 businesses of my own. I have a good idea of what works and doesn't work today, learned in the front lines of hand-to-hand small-business combat. Here are seven tips that will help to ensure your business is a success: 1. Have a written plan. Without a plan, it is merely a dream. It doesn't have to be a book, but you need a few pages outlining specific objectives, strategies, financing, a sales and marketing plan, and a determination of the cash you need to get things done. Writing it all down is a crucial first step. 2. Don't marry your plan. Every great military general in history has known that even the best-laid plan sometimes has to be thrown in the fire when the bullets start flying. Adjust, confront and conquer. 3. Keep your ego in check and listen to others. Advisors are crucial because you need people to bounce ideas off, inspect what you're doing, and push you to greater accomplishments, holding you accountable for what you are committing to do. Always be good to your word and follow through on commitments, even when difficult and challenging. This isn't about you; it's about the business. Don't take things personally and stay out of emotion. Do not let your ego take control. 4. Keep track of everything, and manage by the numbers. Create written systems for everything, because you will reap benefits from them later on. This is how you train your employees and retain consistency. Know your numbers and check them daily and make all decisions based on what they tell you. One of the most important calculations is cash flow pro forma. Determine how much cash you need to do the business, and do not start without the required cash on hand. 5. Delegate to employees and avoid micromanaging them. A manager's job is to delegate and then inspect progress. So don't be a control freak. Keep business organization flat. If you delegate effectively, you will get more and better then you expect. Have an actual written training and orientation plan so your employees know what is required of them. Use an incentive-based rewards system, and maintain a no-problem attitude about issues that crop up. 6. Use the Internet. It is incredibly powerful and very cost efficient, but it takes time and some skill. It is about creating a community, using social media networking such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and blogging to build rapport with your market. You need to get on the train and do it, because your competitors are. 7. Reinvent your business. It is net profit, not gross revenue, that you want to focus on. Separate yourself from your history and create a new competitive advantage, be it a focused niche or super service, but not by discounting. Above all, have fun. Being an entrepreneur is your choice, so make it work. It can be done. You can survive, emerge and succeed in this downsized economy, if you follow the right path.

Have you got a lean startup? There are no limit of metrics you can use to measure your lean startup's progress. Here are some of the most common ones that you'll want to start tracking right away. CUSTOMER ACQUISITION COST To remain fiscally viable in the long term, you'll need to have a solid operating business model. Once you do start bringing in revenue, you need to make sure it doesn't cost too much to keep bringing in new customers. Customer acquisition cost can kill you at every stage of business development. How do you measure customer acquisition cost? You can use a mathematical model to estimate it if you're early on and don't have a lot of data. If you've got the following actual data, you can calculate customer acquisition cost: Number of new customers per month Costs to develop product/service Estimated life of product/service Monthly marketing costs Monthly maintenance costs Customer acquisition cost can change over time, due to rolling out new products and services, streamlining or complicating operations. Make sure to reevaluate it on a regular basis to see if you are still on target. CUSTOMER RETENTION One of the wonderful things about a lean startup is the short product development cycles and iterative product releases. That same excitement can be a killer in the marketplace. Customers who have adopted your business model early on may be completely turned off by a subsequent product release, and others could be engaged. What you really need to measure is your customer retention rate. That way, you'll know when you've reached a sustainable point where customers perceive a value and are willing to continue to pay. Measuring customer retention is relatively straightforward. With all the different advertising channels out there, you should track the retention of those customers you engaged using different media approaches. Then you can better target future advertising dollars. Quarterly measurement of customer retention is a good place to start so that it coincides with quarterly financial earnings reports. Beware that customer retention is a lagging indicator, so once you see it drop, you probably should have made a business change several months ago! VIRAL REACH Viral reach is how many you've engaged via social media outlets like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Social media is great advertising when done right, and growth rates for viral reach vary widely. If your reach metrics look good, then maybe it's time to tease apart the quality of those connections to see how valuable they really are. Don't be discouraged if you have slower viral growth but more relevance. But you should be concerned if you have rapid viral growth without quality participators. TURNOVER Turnover or churn rate is a metric that measures how rapidly your lean startup is losing team members or customers. When used as an internal metric, turnover needs to be assessed to see if it's an expected, natural part of the startup's evolution, or a sign of something deeper. When faced with high customer churn rate, you might look at whether you can recoup some of those lost costs by upselling to the lost customers or cross-promoting other products and services. REVENUE You're probably most familiar with revenue as a metric, but you may be focusing so much on whether you're turning a profit to realize if your revenue metric is looking good! Operations and maintenance costs can vary widely for the first few years of a lean startup, so make sure to focus on revenue, not just overall profit. If revenue looks good, then you'll need to seriously work on reducing your operations cost. #lean #business #startups #revenue #turnover #assessment

Business Model Canvas and Lean Canvas may look similar at first glance - both of them are visual and allow seeing the big picture. Lean canvas, however, is entrepreneur-focused and designed for emerging businesses: it takes only minutes to create, lets you focus on building your business faster, by capturing your idea, collecting feedback, and iterating on it dynamically. How to create a Lean Canvas Lets assume you have a business idea that you want to capture, using Lean Canvas to brainstorm with the team and polish it, as well as to iterate on it after the validation stage. 1. Open lean canvas template Start by creating a blank space and select a "Lean Canvas" templates. Once on the Lean Canvas template, fill in the blocks in the suggested order, starting with the problem definition. 2. Fill in problem & customers Brainstorm on your target customers' problem and document each problem as a note, by either dragging the note button from the top toolbar (zoom in first) or by right-clicking and selecting "create new note". Put yourself in your customers' shoes and capture their 3 key frustrations related to the need you intend to serve. Using the same note feature, list the existing alternatives to your offering (per each problem nailed down above) that customers may utilize to meet their needs. Document your target customer segments with the notes of a different color. Note that customers are not necessarily the users of your product (e.g. users of dog food are dogs, however, these are dog owners who buy stuff for the pets). Think of the potential early adopters of your product, and nail them down (yes, handy notes). 3. Formulate your unique value proposition. Use notes to document your UVP and High-Level Pitch, and Unfair Advantage. Make use of color coding to distinguish between information groups. UVP is a curt and precise statement that reflects the promise of value your product delivers. It explains how it solves your customer's problems (relevancy), outlines specific benefits (quantified value), and tells what makes your product better than the competitors' one (unique differentiation). Get inspired by UVP's of admired brands and come up with a unique UVP that helps you differentiate meaningfully, targeting your early adopters, and keeping their key problem in mind. Complement your UVP with a concise High-level concept. It is an effective brief pitch used to quickly get your idea across and make it easy to spread. Its your UVP distilled to a memorable sound bite. 4. Envision your Solution Shift to the Solution section within the Template and add notes, reflecting your product vision, its possible details and features. Ideally, do this in a team workshop, be open-minded and collect various ideas, however, nailing down the ones that can be grounded with some figures/evidence. 5. Think of promotion channels Using the notes, capture all the possible channels you can utilize to promote your offering: group apart the free ones (like social media, SEO, blogging, etc.) and the paid ones (Facebook ads, Google ads, LinkedIn ads, directories listings, trade fairs, etc). Try to center your efforts around inbound marketing tools that use "pull messaging" to let customers find you organically. Automate activities, where possible and efficient. Also, think of retention first, rather than of referral. Its crucial to have a product worth spreading first, and then attempt to go viral. 6. Plan your revenue streams and cost structure Pin down your intended revenue streams, dragging notes to the dedicated template section. To make things simple, start with a single and simple pricing plan first. It can be tested and got back to at later stages. 7. Write down your key metrics Set up the clear metrics that can be easily measured regularly, in order to tell you how your business is doing. Post notes to the respective part of the template - to visually track your performance weekly/monthly. Lean Canvas is a simple yet powerful tool that allows you to capture the essence of your business idea within 30 min, to get back to it repeatedly and iterate on it dynamically as the new data comes in. #lean #canvas #strategy #business #tool #startups

A SWOT analysis is a tool for documenting internal strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) in your business, as well as external opportunities (O) and threats (T). You can use this information in your business planning to help achieve your goals. To work out if something is an internal or external factor, ask yourself if it would exist even if your business didn't. If it would, then it's an external factor (e.g. new technology). Use the following 8 steps to conduct a SWOT analysis. 1. Decide on the objective of your SWOT analysis To get the most out of your SWOT analysis, you should have a question or objective in mind from the start. For example, you could use a SWOT analysis to help you decide if you should introduce a new product or service, or change your processes. 2. Research your business, industry and market Before you begin the SWOT analysis you need to do some research to understand your business, industry and market. Get a range of perspectives by talking to your staff, business partners and clients. Also conduct some market research and find out about your competitors. 3. List your business's strengths The first step is to identify and list what you think are your business's strengths. Examples could include strengths relating to employees, financial resources, your business location, cost advantages and competitiveness. 4. List your business's weaknesses List things in your business that you consider to be weaknesses (i.e. that put your business at a disadvantage to others). Weaknesses could include an absence of new products or clients, staff absenteeism, a lack of intellectual property, declining market share and distance to market. Make sure you address the weaknesses raised in your SWOT analysis. The list of weaknesses can indicate how your business has grown over time. When you review the SWOT analysis after a year, you may notice that your weaknesses have been resolved. While you may find new weaknesses, the fact that the old ones are gone is a sign of progress. 5. List potential opportunities for your business Think about the possible external opportunities for your business. These are not the same as your internal strengths, and are not necessarily definite – an opportunity for one aspect of your business could be a threat to another (e.g. you may consider introducing a new product to keep up with consumer trends, but your competitors may already have a similar product). Keep this in mind, but for the SWOT analysis, the same item shouldn't be listed as both an opportunity and a threat. Opportunities could include new technology, training programs, partnerships, a diverse marketplace and a change of government. 6. List potential threats to your business List external factors that could be a threat or cause a problem for your business. Examples of threats could include rising unemployment, increasing competition, higher interest rates and the uncertainty of global markets. 7. Establish priorities from the SWOT When you have completed the steps above, you will have 4 separate lists. Ideally, these lists can be displayed side-by-side so you can have an overall picture of how your business is running and what issues you need to address. You can then work out what issues are the most important and what can be dealt with later (i.e. develop 4 prioritized lists). 8. Develop a strategy to address issues in the SWOT Review your 4 prioritized lists by asking: How can we use our strengths to take advantage of the opportunities identified? How can we use these strengths to overcome the threats identified? What do we need to do to overcome the identified weaknesses in order to take advantage of the opportunities? How will we minimize our weaknesses to overcome the identified threats? Once you have answered these questions and finalized your lists, you can now use the SWOT analysis to develop strategies for achieving your business goals. #SWOT #analysis #business #strategy #startup

A SWOT analysis is an incredibly simple, yet powerful tool to help you develop your business strategy, whether you’re building a startup or guiding an existing company. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths Strengths are internal, positive attributes of your company. These are things that are within your control. What business processes are successful? What assets do you have in your team, such as knowledge, education, and reputation? What physical assets do you have, such as customers, equipment, cash, and patents? What competitive advantages do you have over your competition? Weaknesses Weaknesses are negative factors that detract from your strengths. These are things that you might need to improve on to be competitive. Are there things that your business needs to be competitive? What business processes need improvement? Are there tangible assets that your company needs, such as money or equipment? Are there gaps on your team? Is your location ideal for your success? Opportunities Opportunities are external factors in your business environment that are likely to contribute to your success. Is your market growing and are there trends that will encourage people to buy more of what you are selling? Are there upcoming events that your company may be able to take advantage of to grow the business? Are there upcoming changes to regulations that might impact your company positively? If your business is up and running, do customers think highly of you? Threats Threats are external factors that you have no control over. You may want to consider putting in place contingency plans for dealing them if they occur. Do you have potential competitors who may enter your market? Will suppliers always be able to supply the raw materials you need at the prices you need? Could future developments in technology change how you do business? Is consumer behavior changing in a way that could negatively impact your business? Are there market trends that could become a threat? Strengths and weaknesses are internal to your company—things that you have some control over and can change. Examples include who is on your team, your patents and intellectual property, and your location. Opportunities and threats are external—things that are going on outside your company, in the larger market. You can take advantage of opportunities and protect against threats, but you can’t change them. Examples include competitors, prices of raw materials, and customer shopping trends. A SWOT analysis organizes your top strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats into an organized list and is usually presented in a simple two-by-two grid. When you take the time to do a SWOT analysis, you’ll be armed with a solid strategy for prioritizing the work that you need to do to grow your business. You may think that you already know everything that you need to do to succeed, but a SWOT analysis will force you to look at your business in new ways and from new directions. You’ll look at your strengths and weaknesses, and how you can leverage those to take advantage of the opportunities and threats that exist in your market. #SWOT #analysis #threats #weaknesses #opportunities #property #business

Competition is the rivalry between companies selling similar products and services with the goal of achieving revenue, profit, and market share growth. Market competition motivates companies to increase sales volume by utilizing the four components of the marketing mix, also referred to as the four P's. These P's stand for product, place, promotion, and price. Knowing and understanding your competition is a critical step in designing a successful marketing strategy. If you are not aware of who the competition is and knowledgeable about their strengths and weaknesses, it's likely that another firm could enter the picture and provide a competitive advantage, such as product offerings at lower prices or value added benefits. Identifying your competition and staying informed about their products and services is the key to remaining competitive in the market and is crucial to the survival of any business. There are three primary types of market competition: Direct competitors - A direct competitor offers the same products and services aimed at the same target market and customer base, with the same goal of profit and market share growth. This means that your direct competitors are targeting the same audience as you, selling the same products as you, in a similar distribution model as you. However, customers will shop for a variety of price points, locations, service levels, and product features when considering their purchase. But they will not necessarily choose the same mix of these options in every comparison. They will likely explore as many options as they can to fill their need, which may include looking at a different service model or a different product altogether. This is where competition becomes a factor. Recognizing where you have potential competition is a key factor in determining the strongest markets for your business solutions. Indirect Competitors - An indirect competitor is another company that offers the same products and services, much like direct competitors; however, the end goals are different. These competitors are seeking to grow revenue with a different strategy. Nearly every company is involved with some form of indirect competition. For example, general contractors face indirect competition from do-it-yourself promoters. By outlining all the potential ways the customers' needs can be met and tailoring your marketing mix to address the competition, you can generate an advantage for your products and services. Replacement Competitors - A replacement competitor is another company that is offering a product or service that the consumer could use instead of choosing your products or services. The important concept with replacement competitors is that they are using the same resources to purchase the replacement product or service that could have been used to buy your offerings. #competitor #analysis #market #business #company

A competitive analysis is the process of categorizing and evaluating your competitors to understand their strengths and weaknesses in comparison to your own. In other words, it’s not a complicated idea. It’s common knowledge that the better you understand your competitors, the better chance you have of beating them. The concept might be simple, but the process is more complicated. A competitive analysis can cover a whole range of areas, metrics, and disciplines. Some of these will be more important dependent on who you are, but the more exhaustive you are the more effective your competitive analysis will be. Although performing a competitive analysis isn’t rocket science, it does go beyond the few simple Google searches needed to identify your competitors. Here are the crucial steps of that process. Identify your competitors. Whether you want to admit it or not, your competitors are out there and they’re likely just as hungry as you are. Capitalize on their weaknesses and strengths to help start your business, have a better understanding of the landscape and learn how to best position your business for success, plus Identify, understand and keep tabs on your competition so you never have to worry about them sneaking up behind you. This process is known as competitive intelligence gathering. Find Your Competitors There are many ways to identify key competitors in your industry, but Google and Amazon will likely be where you begin your research. Start with a simple search for your business name, product ideas and overarching business idea. From there, explore your competitor’s digital footprint by looking into: Content and social media, News mentions, Support threads and reviews, and Niche organizations and online communities. Your ultimate goal at this stage should be to cast a wide net and get a comprehensive view of the competitive landscape. Categorize Your Competitors As you find competitors, you’ll want to categorize them into various levels, from primary competitors to those you still need to keep on your radar — like secondary and tertiary competitors. Here is an easy way to categorize sellers in your industry: Primary Competition: These are your direct competitors, which means they’re either targeting the same audience or have a similar product — or both. Secondary Competition: These competitors may offer a high- or low-end version of your product, or sell something similar to a completely different audience. If you’re selling Timex watches, a secondary competitor might be a Rolex retailer. Tertiary Competition: This category includes businesses that are tangentially related to yours, and really comes in handy when you’re looking to expand your product catalog. These could be related products and services that are trending, as well as businesses that may be beneficial to partner with further down the line. For instance, if you sell jewelry, a tertiary competitor may sell gems and stones. As you conduct your research, be sure to keep things organized in an easily accessible spreadsheet or database. Examine your competitor’s website & customer experience. Once you’ve identified your competitors, you’ll want to analyze their websites. Identify your competitor’s market positioning. By identifying your competitor’s positioning strategy, you’ll start to get a feel for your market’s demands and expectations. Take a look at their website and marketing messaging and ask the following: What are customers really buying from them? Are they going for price? Experience? How are they differentiating their product from their competition? What features and benefits do they highlight the most in their marketing copy? In their opinion, what makes their product or service unique? Take a peek at pricing. Your pricing strategy is going to be one of the most important aspects of your online business — and potentially a competitive advantage. There are several factors to consider when setting prices for your products. The best place to start is to look at how your competitors have priced their products. You’ll learn what your target market is willing to pay and get an understanding of what prices might work well for your business. Remember, regularly performing a competitive analysis doesn’t mean you need to watch your competitors like a hawk or let them keep you up at night, but you should keep tabs on how their businesses are changing and watch for new challengers in your space. The goal for your business should be to always be one step ahead. These competitive analyses will serve as a key factor when you’re creating strategies to dominate the market. #market #analysis #business #competitor #strategy

Industry analysis is a tool that many businesses use to assess the market. It is used by market analysts, as well as by business owners, to figure out how the industry dynamics work for the specific industry studied. Industry analysis helps the analyst develop strong sense of what is going on in the industry. Think of it as a fancy way of “getting the lay of the land." When it comes to business, industry analysis involves such things as assessing the competition in the industry; the interplay of supply and demand in the industry; how the industry holds up against other industries that are emerging and providing competitions; the likely future of the industry, especially in light of technological developments; how credit works in the industry; and the exact extent of the impact that external factors have on the industry. The importance of industry analysis is manifold. As an entrepreneur trying to find your way in the industry of your choice, you can use industry analysis to understand what your position is, relative to the position that other players in the industry have. You can use industry analysis to your advantage to identify opportunities and threats within your environment, as well as to plan for the future of your business, in the context of the future of your industry. The only way you can survive in any competitive industry is that you will need to understand how you measure up against your competitors, and then use that information to your fullest advantage. What Is the Purpose of Industry Analysis? The importance of industry analysis for marketing capability cannot be overemphasized. Industry analysis and the associated skills used to carry out industry analysis are absolutely critical for your business, as they will help you gain an intimate understanding of the environment within which you’re operating. This importance has various facets to it, however, and they can each be discussed in some detail. Industry Analysis Can Be Used to Predict Performance One of the greatest indicators of how well your business will perform in an industry is the performance of the industry as a whole. If the industry is doing well, then your business is likely to do well within that industry, provided you run it well enough. By being able to foresee the changes that are likely to take place in the industry, this will help you see which changes that industry is likely to go through. For example, if there is a significant drop in the price of fuel, then manufacturers of products that require fuel to produce will enjoy better profit margins. Being able to predict such changes will give your business the opportunity to react in a strategic manner when doing industry-related projects. Industry Analysis and Positioning of a Business During the planning phase of your business, you will be better able to position yourself in the market if you understand how the market works. For example, if you understand the kind of products being sold in the market, as well as how saturated the market is, you will be better able to figure out how you can differentiate yourself from the competition. Industry Analysis to Identify Threats and Opportunities Throughout the process of industry analysis, you will be able to identify many different threats and opportunities. Threats are any phenomena that would impede the growth of your business, while opportunities are phenomena that would catalyze the growth of your business. Types of Industry Analysis There are three main ways in which you can perform industry analysis. These are: The Competitive Forces Model, also known as Porter’s 5 Forces. The Broad Factors Analysis, also known as PEST Analysis. SWOT Analysis. #market #research #industry #analysis #business #projects

Porter's Five Forces is a simple but powerful tool for understanding the competitiveness of your business environment, and for identifying your strategy's potential profitability. This is useful, because, when you understand the forces in your environment or industry that can affect your profitability, you'll be able to adjust your strategy accordingly. For example, you could take fair advantage of a strong position or improve a weak one, and avoid taking wrong steps in future. The tool was created by Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter, to analyze an industry's attractiveness and likely profitability. Since its publication in 1979, it has become one of the most popular and highly regarded business strategy tools. According to Porter, these Five Forces are the key sources of competitive pressure within an industry. He stressed that it is important not to confuse them with more fleeting factors that might grab your attention, such as industry growth rates, government interventions, and technological innovations. These are temporary factors, while the Five Forces are permanent parts of an industry's structure. Porter recognized that organizations likely keep a close watch on their rivals, but he encouraged them to look beyond the actions of their competitors and examine what other factors could impact the business environment. He identified five forces that make up the competitive environment, and which can erode your profitability. These are: Competitive Rivalry This looks at the number and strength of your competitors. How many rivals do you have? Who are they, and how does the quality of their products and services compare with yours? Where rivalry is intense, companies can attract customers with aggressive price cuts and high-impact marketing campaigns. Also, in markets with lots of rivals, your suppliers and buyers can go elsewhere if they feel that they're not getting a good deal from you. On the other hand, where competitive rivalry is minimal, and no one else is doing what you do, then you'll likely have tremendous strength and healthy profits. Supplier Power This is determined by how easy it is for your suppliers to increase their prices. How many potential suppliers do you have? How unique is the product or service that they provide, and how expensive would it be to switch from one supplier to another? The more you have to choose from, the easier it will be to switch to a cheaper alternative. But the fewer suppliers there are, and the more you need their help, the stronger their position and their ability to charge you more. That can impact your profit. Buyer Power Here, you ask yourself how easy it is for buyers to drive your prices down. How many buyers are there, and how big are their orders? How much would it cost them to switch from your products and services to those of a rival? Are your buyers strong enough to dictate terms to you? When you deal with only a few savvy customers, they have more power, but your power increases if you have many customers. Threat of Substitution This refers to the likelihood of your customers finding a different way of doing what you do. For example, if you supply a unique software product that automates an important process, people may substitute it by doing the process manually or by outsourcing it. A substitution that is easy and cheap to make can weaken your position and threaten your profitability. Threat of New Entry. Your position can be affected by people's ability to enter your market. So, think about how easily this could be done. How easy is it to get a foothold in your industry or market? How much would it cost, and how tightly is your sector regulated? If it takes little money and effort to enter your market and compete effectively, or if you have little protection for your key technologies, then rivals can quickly enter your market and weaken your position. If you have strong and durable barriers to entry, then you can preserve a favorable position and take fair advantage of it. By thinking about how each force affects you, and by identifying its strength and direction, you can quickly assess your position. You can then look at what strategic changes you need to make to deliver long-term profit. #porter #business #analysis #power #startups #blog #market #research