Juicy Competition: Who is Your Market?

We are all experienced at competing in our personal lives. One of the first things learned by babies is how to capture attention by competing with other things that direct attention away from them. Competing is a natural instinct and you need to focus on constantly tapping into it in order to improve your business.  Don’t be afraid to compete. In fact, look at it like is a game. The bigger and juicer the competition, the greater the challenge. The greater the challenge the larger the payoff will be when you reach that sweet spot of growth and increased revenue.

To successfully compete in today’s saturated world full of savvy entrepreneurs, you have to know your market intimately. In some businesses key markets stay relatively the same but in most businesses markets shift. Either way you must constantly use research and careful analysis to identify your market.

Remember that your market is make up of people. People are more than just a set of numbers. You have to get inside the mindset of the people and companies that make up your primary market.  There are a number of tools available to you through research from experts that share information about how to know your market. Once you feel like you know your market you must focus your attention on the best avenues to reach it.  Your market has urgent needs that beg to be filled. You need to understand the psychology of the people behind the market. You have to take your own ego out of what you think is best for your customers and instead realize it is all about them. Information is power. Possessing the knowledge about who your customers are and what they want will give you the power to leverage the information into a solid plan to win the competitive wars.

Your competition is trying to accomplish the same thing you are. So you must be innovative and a risk taker to discover what it is about your product that fits in with the needs of your target market.  You have to understand your talents and exploit them. At the same time understanding your limitations is important so that you keep a targeted focus that is not too large or convoluted to brand. Stay true to your core mission but realize the mission evolves. Your ability to adapt and innovate affects where you fit in with your customers.

The same analytical skills that are used for understanding your market comes into play when sizing up the competition. Find out what needs they are filling that you are not.  Choose two or three things that you can comfortably add to your operations that will position your business to better compete. Study both larger and smaller operations than your own. Focus on the areas where your competition has a hard time differentiating from you and other competitors. Find an angle to your approach that is innovative, progressive and even sexier. Stand out and be extraordinary instead of ordinary.