marketing
Competitive Analysis
Systematic study of competitors - what they offer, charge, do well, and miss.
Definition
Competitive analysis maps your competitive landscape: who else solves the same problem, what they charge, where they're strong, where they're weak, what they're missing. Done well, it identifies gaps you can credibly own (differentiation) and threats to plan around. Done badly, it becomes obsession with competitors and loss of your own focus. Do it annually, not weekly. The goal isn't to copy competitors - it's to find the space they don't fill.
In your business
- →Run it annually, not constantly - frequent comparison kills focus
- →Map 5-7 direct competitors and 2-3 adjacent ones
- →End every competitive analysis with one decision: where you'll differentiate