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Tag: Competitive Advantages

  • How Tech Innovation Helps You Stay Ahead of the Competition | Entrepreneur

    How Tech Innovation Helps You Stay Ahead of the Competition | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In today’s competitive business landscape, there seems to be a ready-made solution for everything. While off-the-shelf technology can offer practicality and convenience, relying solely on these tools often leads to a product or service that lacks distinction.

    Staying ahead of the competition is about more than simply adopting the latest tech tools — it’s about the ability to adapt quickly and create offerings that truly meet the evolving needs of your clients. Businesses that break free from the constraints of one-size-fits-all solutions are those that embrace innovation, developing unique products and experiences that set them apart from the rest, regardless of what industry they’re in.

    Related: The Secrets to Harnessing Innovation and Driving Your Business Forward

    Standing out and making your mark

    The pace of technological change can feel overwhelming. For businesses, the challenge isn’t just to keep up — it’s to stay ahead. In every industry, the companies that succeed are the ones that can pivot quickly, adopt new tools and adapt their processes to match shifting trends.

    As President and CEO of 1031 Crowdfunding, I saw an opportunity to break away from traditional real estate investment platforms and develop something uniquely ours. Like the best innovations, our platform was born out of necessity. There are a lot of stories of clients being misled, misinformed or deceived by other firms. Our proprietary online platform was created with transparency in mind.

    We’ve built a backend system that can be easily customized, allowing us to roll out new features or make adjustments in response to real-time feedback and shifting investor demands. Our goal has always been to offer our investors the best possible experience while staying compliant with industry regulations. For businesses that prioritize client satisfaction, being able to pivot quickly with your own unique technology can be a key differentiator when it comes to successful client relations. This can relate to entrepreneurs in any industry when developing products or tools for clients or investors.

    This platform isn’t just a rebranded version of what everyone else in the industry is using. It’s fully in-house, which gives us complete control over its features and makes it difficult for competitors to easily replicate. These features give us a direct line to our clients and allow us to offer services that stand out in the marketplace.

    Advantages of adaptability

    Maintaining control and flexibility over your business’ technological operations is a huge competitive advantage. While other companies are at the mercy of third-party vendors for updates, bug fixes and new features, we can move at our own pace. In an industry like real estate, where regulations and market conditions can change quickly, the ability to adapt is crucial. Our back-end technology moves as fast as we do.

    Related: 4 Ways to Adapt Your Business as Your Industry Evolves

    Imitation is not a winning strategy

    As a business owner, something I see a lot is white-label solutions. Many companies mimic others’ sites and services. If it isn’t broken, why fix it, right? The problem is, if you are offering what everyone else is, why should clients choose you? You can’t expect to outpace competitors if you are all wearing the same shoes.

    Off-the-shelf technology may seem like the easy choice. It’s ready-made, tested and widely available. Depending on your business and industry, this might be the right choice for you. However, there can be significant downsides to this approach, particularly in terms of differentiation and innovation.

    The most obvious issue is conformity. Many businesses don’t properly utilize the creative and intellectual talents of their team and, in place of their own product development, end up using the same platform as their competitors, which leads to little differentiation beyond branding. The result? A marketplace filled with companies that essentially offer the same product or service, with few distinguishing features.

    Another issue is dependency. Companies that rely on widely distributed tech solutions often find themselves limited by the functionality and update cycles of third-party providers. If your business depends on another company’s technology and they suddenly close shop, where does that leave you? While being at the mercy of a vendor’s timeline may be sufficient for some, this can hinder growth and innovation for businesses that wish to stay ahead of their competitors, regardless of industry.

    Related: One Size Does Not Fit All: Customer Centricity Is The Key To Differentiate Your Business

    Takeaways for entrepreneurs

    For entrepreneurs and business owners, creating a unique, in-house product can feel like a daunting task, requiring a significant investment of time, money and resources. But the most successful businesses are those that actively listen to their customers. By understanding and delivering the features your clients want, you not only foster loyalty but also encourage word-of-mouth recommendations that can drive growth. In today’s competitive market, providing what customers truly need is often the difference between staying ahead and falling behind.

    Innovation isn’t just an advantage — it’s a necessity. As industries evolve, companies that stay attuned to customer feedback and quickly adapt to meet their needs will secure a lasting competitive edge.

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    Edward Fernandez

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  • How to Get Beat Out Your Competition by Making a Lasting Impression | Entrepreneur

    How to Get Beat Out Your Competition by Making a Lasting Impression | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    I’m in the public relations space, and as of last count, there are more than 48,000 other PR firms in the United States. A large fraction of these compete with my agency in the five hub cities where I operate. Yet mine consistently ranks among the highest in those cities — Nashville, for example.

    Is it because I know my industry better than my competitors? Because I land more placements for my clients? Because my team is more talented or my network of connections more expansive? As much as I’d like to think that I’m running with the front of the pack based solely on the quality of my services and the effectiveness of my methodologies, it’s far more likely that I earn rave reviews and generate referrals from my clients due to two words: personalized attention.

    More specifically, my team and I go well above and beyond to create an exceptional customer experience at my firm because I’ve learned over the years of running my own business that it’s the client’s impression of you that matters most — that’s what informs all other aspects of customer relations, drives all other client decisions and determines if they’ll stay with you or not (even more so than short-term results).

    Even in the digital age we all inhabit, with so many automated tasks and productivity tools that populate our workplaces, personalizing the professional is a surefire means to client retention and satisfaction. Here are five practices I regularly follow to make the most positive impression on my clients I possibly can.

    1. Get a copy of your client’s org chart

    When you understand the structure of your client’s business, you understand who does what, who reports to whom, and, in turn, you know who to go to for what. Not only is this an immense time-saver — as in not filling people’s inboxes unnecessarily with work that doesn’t pertain to them — but your clients will also appreciate that you did your homework on their staffing.

    It’s so much more impressive to send a note that says, “Would your team like to see this before we send it up to Jeremy?” or “I believe Bettina has the final sign-off here” than “Are you the right person to contact about this?” And note the use of actual names here — learning the first names of everyone you’ll be working with moves you into first place faster than you’d think!

    Related: 4 Ways to Make the Best First Impression With Your Customers

    2. Use proper grammar and punctuation

    Make sure that all your communications to your client — and, far more importantly, all the communications you prepare on their behalf — are written properly. Yes, it takes some extra work to eliminate errors. Still, it’s absolutely worth the effort when you consider how much just one typo can mar an entire project (ever seen “pubic” instead of “public”?) and how poorly faulty grammar can reflect on quality output, education level and attracting the intended audience.

    Though it may be true that language standards are slipping in America, that doesn’t mean nobody’s noticing the shoddy quality of copy. Some people still notice and care. If your client is one of them, you’ll earn bonus points by knowing the difference between “compliment” and “complement” by not allowing both “San Antonio Riverwalk” and “San Antonio River Walk” in the same publication. Use your grammar checker. Always do a spell-check. Re-read everything you produce. And if you don’t have a language maven on staff to serve as your in-house proofreader, hire an affordable freelancer who can provide quick turnaround times.

    3. Choose video over audio

    Whenever possible, schedule video calls and videoconference meetings over phone calls and phone meetings. The day and age of in-person meetings is quickly becoming obsolete. Still, there will never be a replacement for face-to-face interaction, eye contact, observing facial expressions and showing your client with every head nod and eyebrow raise that you’re following what they’re saying and closely attending to your conversation.

    During the pandemic, cultivating one-on-one relationships over Zoom and Teams became the new norm, and most people are entirely fine leaving it that way! Interacting over a screen instead of a conference table is just more convenient, time-effective and environmentally friendly. Nevertheless, we can’t afford to lose the “one-on-one interaction” part of business relationships. Remember the old Bell advertising slogan? Well, video is the modern-day equivalent of “the next best thing to being there,” so leverage your camera as often as possible to “see” your clients, not just talk to them.

    4. Mark your calendar!

    Notate birthdays, business anniversaries, baby due dates. Keep a record of your client’s big meetings and conference attendance. On those days, send a person-to-person text or email. And the more specific, the better, such as “Hope your coffee product presentation in Jersey went well and the traffic wasn’t too bad on the Parkway!” Or “Congrats on baby Elliot. That was my grandfather’s name, and I hope it serves your brand-new son as well as it did him.”

    By incorporating the personal into the professional, which is a pillar of my own approach at my company, clients value your role more because you’ve actively endeavored to become part of their lives, not just an appendage of their business. In other words, when you add personal touches to your communications and conversations, your clients can’t help but think of you on a more human level rather than just a professional contact with whom they can easily cut ties.

    Related: 6 Strategies for Making a Good First Impression During Business Meetings

    5. Observe the line between personal and professional, but use both — often

    On a related but separate note: As much as I’m saying to weave personal connections into your daily dealings with your clients, you never, ever want to go too far. You can use humor, but not off-color humor. You can show vulnerability, but you don’t want to appear weak or indecisive. You can ask questions and admit what you don’t know, but be strategic (not lazy) about trying to resolve issues yourself before coming to your clients with them. And be yourself, absolutely always be genuinely yourself, but don’t expose so much that you cross the line into overintimacy or inappropriate divulgence.

    By speckling your client interactions with individual touches as you simultaneously maintain proper decorum, you will put a personal face on your business name. And that name will leave more of a mark on your customers precisely because of your adept balancing act between the personal and the professional.

    Part of making a meaningful impression on your clients is consciously putting your best face forward every day, in every way. Don’t let them see a messy office behind you on Zoom, but let them vent about their kid’s tonsillitis for 10 minutes if needed. Don’t bad-mouth other clients or finger-point when things go wrong, but get to know them well enough that you’d love to grab a drink next time you’re in town.

    Take every opportunity you can to show your clients — and then remind them often — that “business as usual” to you means being prepared (as in learning an org chart), producing quality output (that’s been proofed), scheduling face-to-face encounters, observing special occasions in their lives and sharing your authentic self, who happens to be a multifaceted, wonderful human being with flaws who’s also an utter professional and a real pro at what you do!

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    Emily Reynolds Bergh

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  • Outpace Competitors in 2024 with Fresh Niche Growth Tactics | Entrepreneur

    Outpace Competitors in 2024 with Fresh Niche Growth Tactics | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    A niche market is simply defined as a subset of an overall market, with the individuals comprising it sporting unique and often nuanced needs. This is why businesses that target them typically focus on one type of product or service. And this focused effort can result in remarkable returns: A study published in a May, 2013 edition of Market Intelligence & Planning revealed that businesses that engage with niche markets experience “increased profits, prices, sales, growth, market shares and competitiveness.”

    The challenge is that anticipating future growth in these sectors, while vital to success, is no easy feat.

    1. Early homework

    The first step in securing growth is to find your niche market — a sector underserved by current products and perhaps ignored by broad-market companies. The good news is that the possibilities are expansive. Harvard Business Review found that no less than two-thirds of customers feel that “companies are not responding fast enough to their changing needs.”

    One reliable way to find a niche market with potential for growth is to evaluate your own needs and the needs of those around you. Does your mother lament how bare her house feels now that you’ve moved out? Then she’s part of a growing community of empty nesters perhaps in need of personalized home décor. Does your gym buddy keep complaining about how his coffee doesn’t fit into a training regimen? Then he might be part of the health-conscious cold-brew lovers market.

    Related: How to Effectively Beat Your Direct Competition in a Niche Market

    2. Evaluate demand

    A market close to your heart will be the easiest to research and serve. Just ensure that yours isn’t too small to be profitable. Simply because a sector is underserved does not mean it has the potential for growth. This is why evaluating market demand — including its maturity and business cycle — is crucial.

    That said, even if there doesn’t appear to be growing demand, this doesn’t mean your business cannot drive it. For example, in 2021, a garden furniture company conducted a case study revealing that UK households, on average, invested approximately £670 ($853 US) in enhancing outdoor spaces, then strategically analyzed how to better impact sales outcomes. Resulting insights led to a remarkable 160% boost in revenue and the introduction of 450 unique stock-keeping units to the company’s product lineup. By conducting a similar base-rate analysis, your business, too, can shape products for a niche market while simultaneously influencing that market.

    Of course, customers’ needs are always changing, so you’ll likely need to pivot and expand at some point, but the street goes both ways; you can also strategically drive demand with a product line.

    Related: How to Grow Your Profits in a Niche Market

    3. A deeper market dive

    Once you have found a market with potential for growth, you’ll need to find out what product or service will meet its unique needs and why these needs aren’t currently being met. There are a variety of ways to conduct associated research, usually by looking at the broader markets they’re part of. Methods include:

    • Tracking down current industry reports: They must detail the size and drivers of — and barriers within and without — a sector, including its potential for growth.
    • Engaging with potential customers: Despite its time-consuming nature, this step is essential. Surveys are an effective mode of interaction, but for more in-depth insights, don’t shy away from individual discussions, either through social media platforms or face-to-face meetings.
    • Identify competitors: Oversaturated markets will likely have the least potential for growth, not surprisingly, but also keep in mind that — though they may be tempting — niche markets with no competitors can also pose sales risks, even when catered to. So, it can be helpful to expand or pivot slightly to give yourself competitive protection.

    Related: How To Spy on Your Competition With Social Media

    4. Consider external factors

    When contemplating the potential for growth, be sure to take into account external factors that alter customer need and demand, and otherwise alter a market broadly. (We all saw, for example, how impactful the Covid-19 pandemic was on businesses of every size.) Getting ahead of them will let you plan and adapt. Also, it’s not uncommon for radical innovations (in technology, principally) to “leapfrog” a business, so keep a wary eye on advancements and plan how to incorporate them into offerings.

    Another common external factor is the gamut of governmental regulations and their capacity to force compliance, influence customer buying willingness and trust, and/or outlaw a product altogether. Here again, being a student of possibilities — taking note of even possible regulatory changes — will allow you to quickly customize offerings and educate customers.

    Related: What Every Entrepreneur Must Understand About Their First 10 Customers

    5. Potential for early adopter relationships and strategic partnerships

    Cultivating relationships with your early adopters will provide valuable insights and feedback, which helps refine, improve and expand a product in alignment with the ever-evolving needs of a niche market.

    Another key growth assist can come in the form of helpful allies. The presence of influencers is a good indicator that a market has room for growth. Partnerships with these influencers and other thought leaders can fuel increased visibility and access.

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    Pritom Das

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  • How Logistics Leaders Can Edge the Competition by Embracing Industry Problems | Entrepreneur

    How Logistics Leaders Can Edge the Competition by Embracing Industry Problems | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The logistics and supply chain industry is embarking on a new era characterized by significant advancements in technology and sustainability. As the sector moves forward, inspiration for continued progress comes from an unexpected source: SpaceX.

    SpaceX has earned its place as the leader in space, but it’s not because the company dedicated all its attention to one single service or solution — quite the opposite. SpaceX was founded in 2002 to make more affordable rockets. The team famously obsessed over space-related problems and, in time, decided to aim higher and expand its mission. This resulted not only in more affordable rockets but also multi-use rocket and communication technologies that have disrupted the global space industry.

    The takeaway for logistics leaders here on the ground? A lot of good comes when you keep focus on the problems you’re trying to solve rather than fixating solely on your solution.

    Related: New Trends And Technologies Evolving Supply Chain And Logistics

    The benefits of obsessing over the problem

    SpaceX is a perfect example of an organization that never takes its focus off the problem it’s trying to solve. This philosophy encourages teams to evaluate big challenges their industry and customers face from different angles, staying attuned to shifts that may affect their approach. When teams are constantly re-evaluating whether there is a better way, they are driven toward new and comprehensive solutions that could ultimately benefit customers, individual organizations, industries and even society at large.

    When logistics leaders hone in on industry challenges, these three benefits will follow:

    Long-term sustainability

    Solutions that stem from a deep understanding of an issue are more likely to be sustainable in the long term. This rings especially true in logistics where labor shortages, fuel costs, lack of warehousing space, inventory management, supply chain disruptions, delivery delays and heightened consumer expectations are on the rise. Fortunately, renewing focus on the industry’s challenges — and how these problems came to be — presents an opportunity for leaders to see lasting benefits.

    By understanding the root causes of core problems, leaders can focus on addressing the underlying issues rather than develop temporary Band-Aid solutions that only temporarily relieve the symptoms.

    Unobstructed innovation

    Like SpaceX, continually obsessing over a problem allows teams to examine each challenge from varying perspectives over time, which could lead to brand-new solutions. By evaluating problems from different angles, logistics leaders can infuse innovative thinking into every corner of their company and culture.

    As an example of innovation, let’s take another look at the word “sustainability.” We’ve touched on long-term sustainability from a business perspective, but what about sustainability from an environmental standpoint?

    It’s estimated that today’s retail supply chain accounts for some 25% of global emissions. High carbon emissions in the sourcing, manufacturing, warehousing and shipping processes as well as material waste and energy consumption throughout the supply chain are to blame. Simply investing in carbon offsetting won’t make a difference. Logistics leaders need to think beyond a quick fix and get comfortable exploring bold alternatives, like electrifying their delivery fleets and providing carbon-neutral deliveries. If leaders empower their teams to stay focused on the problems at hand and think about possibilities beyond their service or solution, providers might unearth planet-positive innovations.

    Related: 6 Ways to Grow Your Logistics Business as an Entrepreneur

    Elevated customer satisfaction

    Obsessing over solving the problems industries and customers face can lead to increased customer satisfaction. Why? Because customers want to be heard and want their needs addressed — and they’ll stay loyal to companies that provide a positive experience.

    With an understanding of the challenges plaguing the logistics industry, leaders can take a customer-centric approach to problem-solving. It’s a strategy that ensures solutions are tailored to exceed customer needs and expectations. The same goes for key stakeholders. When every player in a logistics operation understands the problem — and continually assesses where things stand and how they impact partners and end customers — it’s easier to gain consensus on solutions that better serve the company, partners and their shared customers.

    This approach also helps leaders avoid unnecessary risks. By understanding the problem, leaders better grasp the potential risks and how they affect customers and stakeholders. Rather than wandering too far down the wrong path, leaders can develop strategies to mitigate risks and instead focus time and energy on how to best serve customers.

    The logistics industry is experiencing pivotal shifts, but there are lessons to be learned from entrepreneurs in other verticals. Regardless of industry, there are endless opportunities to enact positive change. Leaders who obsess over industry problems and their root causes — and how they impact key stakeholders — have a powerful edge over their competition to develop innovative and lasting solutions.

    Related: #5 Key Areas Logistics Businesses Should Focus for Growth

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    Mark Ang

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  • How to Turn Every Adversity You Face into an Advantage | Entrepreneur

    How to Turn Every Adversity You Face into an Advantage | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Entrepreneurship is a wild ride, right? I would know. I’ve ridden that rollercoaster through storms and smooth stretches. But every time life threw a curveball, I stepped up to bat.

    I still remember when one of our key developers had to leave our company for personal reasons right before we launched a massive update — it was scary. I learned to rely on multiple people to do a given task.

    Life can flip from incredible to terrifying before you can say “entrepreneur.” I still remember when COVID-19 started. My company went from getting high-fives from industry titans to realizing our users couldn’t even step outside, let alone upload content.

    So, join me on the journey where I turn setbacks into my secret weapons.

    Related: 10 Growth Strategies Every Business Owner Should Know

    Embracing the crazy swings of life

    Here’s the thing about entrepreneurship: It’s like diving into an ocean of challenges. When I jumped into this sea of business, obstacles seemed like roadblocks. But guess what? They were stepping stones, leading me to growth and wisdom. It’s like when you learned to ride a bike without the training wheels — scary but exhilarating.

    Big-company solutions often don’t apply to us entrepreneurs. “Never rely on just one person to do a given task” would seem like an obvious lesson an industry titan might give you. Well, guess what? We small business owners often don’t have the luxury of having multiple employees with the same skill sets.

    So what do we do? We get creative. Seek solutions in places you might have never considered. Websites like Fiverr, Upwork and Flexjobs often offer temporary freelance solutions to get you through the day.

    Get comfortable with being uncomfortable because that is what being an entrepreneur is about.

    Related: Creativity, Innovation, And Leadership: The Elements of Transformation

    Why cultural roots are a different kind of power tool

    In Mexico, we’ve got this saying: some of the best engineers don’t need fancy degrees. They just rocked their resourcefulness like pros, using whatever tools they had. As a Mexican entrepreneur, that gritty mindset is my secret sauce. It’s like taking lemons and making the best orange juice you’ve ever tasted. Like, how’d that happen? We got creative.

    When adversity knocks, I knock back. Drawing from my heritage, I tap into the spirit of innovation that’s the heart of the Mexican entrepreneurial scene. It’s like when your grandma used her secret recipe to turn a regular meal into a feast. Our cultural foundation is like rocket fuel, powering us through the roughest storms.

    Related: 6 Obstacles to Creative Thinking and How to Overcome Them

    Turning challenges into allies: My game changer

    Every entrepreneur’s journey is filled with “uh-oh” moments that, with a little twist, become “Aha!” sparks. When my company, Replay Listings, got the side-eye, I flipped it into an invite for collaboration. I turned feedback into business gold, forging partnerships that set the stage for victory.

    For example, given that my business is focused on real estate video tours, I started calling real estate agents who have leveraged our technology and invited them for a cup of coffee or even lunch. During that time, getting to know my user base, their needs and their experiences while using our mobile app was really nice. In fact, many of Replay Listings’ in-app features were built because they asked us to! Who would have known? Listening to your users is helpful and essential when learning your businesses’ areas of opportunity.

    Pay close attention to your users’ needs, and you’ll see more clearly your path ahead.

    Innovation through tough times

    Picture this: a partnership I’d banked on suddenly vanished into thin air. One minute, we were chatting, and the next? Poof! They pulled a vanishing act. Now, instead of moping, I spun it around. I diversified my partnerships to ensure my venture’s future wasn’t hanging by a thread.

    Life’s got a funny way of switching things up. Hard times can be your secret ingredient to success.

    As I’ve mentioned before, It is obvious that not relying on a single employee to do a specific task is advised, but diversifying talent does not need to come at an extra expense. It often needs to take the shape of more partnerships, collaborations, or allies within the industry.

    Allocate some of your time to making allies — it’ll help you in the long run.

    Finding gold in the rough

    As we sail through this entrepreneur sea, remember that every crash can be turned into a smooth wave. Just like I’ve learned from my Mexican roots and my own ups and downs, the trick is to tackle challenges like they’re stepping stones.

    As I navigate the tumultuous waters of entrepreneurship, I realize that the wild ride is not just about braving storms and smooth stretches. It’s about harnessing every twist, turn and curveball to my advantage. Entrepreneurship isn’t just about building a business; it’s about building character and resilience.

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    Rodolfo Delgado

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  • How Macromoves Allow You to Win When Launching Your Business | Entrepreneur

    How Macromoves Allow You to Win When Launching Your Business | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In strategy games, macromoves are plays made with the end in mind. If you play video games, you are undoubtedly familiar with the concept. If not, you can ask any gamer how they approach making progress and winning the game. There are two philosophies: One is reactionary — making emotional decisions on the fly, looking only at the threats faced at that moment. The other is macromoves — playing the long game with a global perspective, anticipating threats and exercising patience.

    Nearly half of all new businesses fail within the first five years. Whether a college graduate or a veteran entrepreneur, you will face real challenges launching a new business with plenty of legitimate threats. While it’s tempting to believe that you can walk right into the job of CEO, it’s important to take the time to make macromoves: patient moves made with purpose that help establish a healthy growth pattern, ensuring that your business will thrive despite challenges that prove catastrophic for the less prepared.

    Related: It’s Time to Change Your Mind About Failure

    Envision your future role

    Gaming requires you to put yourself in a role, taking a virtual tour through the new reality, “playing” as someone else. In business, a good place to start is projecting your ideological “self” into the future, using your imagination and your senses. Ask yourself, “What will I be wearing when I step into this position?” “Will I have a corner office with a view, or do I see myself working outside?”

    How many of us have taken entry-level jobs and left because the environment was oppressive? It’s important to visualize the culture and workspace you want when developing your business concept. The right environment can give you a sense of purpose, camaraderie and support your creativity. If you want to work there, your staff will as well.

    You can start “envisioning” by decorating the walls of your room or office with images that reflect your dreams, or you can create a vision board, cutting out photos, phrases, names of heroes or whatever motivates you. A vision board can help you get a sense of what inspires you and how your inspirations could be connected.

    Immerse yourself in the field

    When you begin to carve out a plan, make it a point to study the roles people fulfill in the business you want to start. For some newbies, it could mean interviewing people who do your desired job. Getting an entry-level job in your field of interest could be the answer for others. After I decided I wanted my own talk show, I sat in the audience of Dr. Phil, The Price is Right and Leeza, watching the host go through rehearsals, pre-production and filming.

    Those who start from the bottom, gaining their experience from the ground up, make the best CEOs. As your knowledge and experience grow, you will develop your ideas about launching your enterprise and set realistic goals.

    As you observe how business is done, keeping a journal can help you define what you want — and don’t want — in your corporate culture. Writing about your observations can help you determine the synergy you want in the workplace.

    Related: The 4 Principles of Success and Wealth Accumulation

    Make purposeful connections

    In many strategy games, coordination with allies is key. The course of a career is not determined merely by classes and internships; we learn from people, from the connections we make and the experiences we take with us. This strategy requires teachability. You may not always recognize a teacher in your midst — we don’t usually think of a custodian, cashier or receptionist as a business coach. But the CEO often learns from the secretary. The manager learns from the customer service agent. If you’re dreaming of launching a business, talk to those on the front lines, ask questions and find out what they think about the company’s strengths and weaknesses.

    It’s important to be open and accessible to learning. Be aware of when a person comes into your life, even as a friend, a coworker or a roommate. There’s an old saying, “Iron sharpens iron.” Your life can be enriched by someone who challenges you to think differently about situations, plans, and goals. One person can ask the right question — the one you’ve not had the guts to ask yourself — such as, “Why do you want to start this business?” or “Who is going to be your sounding board?” You need people, but you never know where you might encounter them. Keep your eyes and ears open whether you are at a burger stand or in the parking lot at Walmart.

    Related: Why Embracing Change is the Best Catalyst for Growth

    Watch the competition

    In strategy games, the phases in which you are most vulnerable are the most important parts of the game. There are two considerations: your ability to defend your security and expand your economy. In business, it’s vital to understand the situation and the environment you are navigating. Watching your competition teaches you what they are doing well and where they are weak. There you will find your advantage.

    Many businesses falter at a particular breaking point; they fail to capitalize on their unique advantages while pressing on with their traditional strategy. In games and business, if you have an edge and do not press it, you give up something — perhaps something vital to growth. Growth trumps vision. Your vision can be based so much on tradition that it is difficult to embrace change, envision new ways of doing things or create new products; an old vision can keep you stuck in an obsolete business model. The competition may see you as predictable or irrelevant.

    One way to gauge the competition is to study companies, looking up blogs, reviews and articles to uncover weaknesses and strengths. You will learn what people are complaining about, what companies do right, and where they stand to improve.

    Launching a career is about planning out the moves, a long game in which you are setting yourself up for success, much like playing chess. Although you can’t control every aspect of your destiny, you can deploy a game-winning strategy so that, when opportunity comes, you are ready.

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    Nancy Solari

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  • Is Your Competition Killing Your Business? Try This to Stand Out | Entrepreneur

    Is Your Competition Killing Your Business? Try This to Stand Out | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    “That is an easy one. You have two choices: Either you get your best people in the room and figure out a way to drive your costs way down and compete on price, or you give everything you’ve got to differentiate like hell.”

    While attending my first Global Leadership Conference for Entrepreneurs’ Organization in Washington, D.C., that was what the surprise guest lunch speaker shared with the 300 entrepreneurs gathered in the room. That speaker was none other than Jack Welch, the legendary CEO of General Electric. The question he fielded was, “My competitors are killing us; what can I do?” Jack’s scratchy-voiced, lightning-quick, candorous response made an impression on me. It’s advice I took to heart.

    Related: Want to Beat the Competition? Identify What You Do Better Than Anyone Else, and Tell Your Story

    One cohesive suggestion

    A few weeks ago, a fellow founder asked me a similar question: “Our industry has gotten much more competitive than when we started 10 years ago. I know I need to differentiate our services more; I just don’t know how. Can you suggest a process?”

    A Google search on how to differentiate your company from the competition reveals that a lot has been written on the subject.

    The vast variety of services and products that different companies offer makes it difficult to address the topic in a relevant way to a wide range of businesses in one article. Rather than list all the ways to differentiate or talk specifically about them, I have one cohesive suggestion: Discover the answer by talking to your best customers. How? Send your leadership team on a mission to the metaphorical “Differentiation Town.”

    The journey to discovering what makes your company different

    I once had an executive from a major airline contact me, a gold-level frequent flyer, to ask a series of questions in a friendly, 20-minute conversation. He shared that all of the airline’s top management conduct 10 customer interviews every two years to help improve their service and differentiation from competitors.

    So here is my advice for every founder who wants to differentiate their offering: Give your top leaders a mission to talk with five to 10 of your best customers.

    If you have 10 leaders, ask your accounting department for a list of the top 100 customers that paid your company the most in the last year. If you have three leaders, then ask for a list of 30. If necessary, consider pairing leaders so they have the opportunity to speak with a minimum of five customers each.

    However you divide it up, give your leaders 30 days to speak with customers, then get together for a half-day offsite. Spend the first half sharing the results and identifying the most common answers; spend the second half brainstorming what changes you could implement to further differentiate the company from competitors.

    Related: 3 Ways to Stand Out from Competitors

    What to ask your top customers

    After a gracious thank-you for their business, here are the questions I would ask those top customers:

    • What do you like best about us and our product or service?
    • What do you count on us for?
    • If you said to a colleague, “You need to use (our company name) because …” — What reason would you give after the word “because?”
    • Why do you choose us over our competitors?
    • Is there anything you would value us doing that we are not?
    • Anything we could improve that you would truly value?

    Let customers give multiple answers to these questions and note all of them, but also ask them to rank their top answer to each. I would also give them something for their time (I got a $100 travel credit) and give them your direct number should they ever want to talk again.

    When the leadership meets to discuss the results, read these same questions to the group. Go question by question and write all the common answers on a dry-erase board. Then for each question, have the group vote for the top three most common responses to each. By the end, you will have 18 differentiation points your customers already recognize or suggest you could improve or implement. My guess is there will be some overlap and commonality, so these could be consolidated into 10 items.

    Next, brainstorm what actions the company could take to amplify, strengthen, or improve each item. Then vote on which of those actions would have the most significant impact for the least effort. Take the top vote-getters and implement them over the course of two years.

    Your company is already differentiated — whether you think so or not. This process should help you “be more you” and stand out even further in customers’ eyes. If you do this every two years, then as your industry gets more and more competitive, you are simultaneously getting more and more differentiated — essentially keeping up with or outpacing the “inflation rate” of growing competition.

    Related: The 3 Truths Smart Entrepreneurs Know About Beating the Competition

    Go for extra credit

    There’s an extra credit opportunity that could turbocharge sales and revenue. Since you are isolating your top customers, why not also brainstorm what they have in common with each other and try to identify how you can connect with more like them? If you double your number of such best customers every two years, your revenue could grow 30% or more.

    You can’t change the fact that your competition will grow more fierce as new, hungry, creative companies enter your space and vie for your customers. What you can change is the strategy you use to nullify those attempts at undercutting your customer base.

    When you continuously invest in improving your product or service in a tailored way that reflects customer preferences, you are intentionally creating a differentiated product with proven reliability and experience that nobody else in your category can match.

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    Barry Raber

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  • How to Balance Ethical Growth and Competitive Advantages | Entrepreneur

    How to Balance Ethical Growth and Competitive Advantages | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In sports, games depend on rules — boundaries, penalties and rule-keepers to enforce them — that skirt the edge of viewer excitement without becoming dangerous or unfair. Everyone agrees on adhering to these rules, and despite them, the game can still be very competitive. In hockey, players can throw down their gloves and fight as long as their actions stay within the limits of competition. Those who play dirty risk more than expulsion from the game: That reputation can ruin their careers.

    In business, we also have to follow rules and expectations to sustain our companies and avoid tarnishing our personal and professional brands. The purpose of any business is growth, but unless we play within those boundaries, that growth is not sustainable. Stakeholders, such as employees and customers, have higher expectations for businesses, from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. The first to step up with new and effective ways to meet more of those demands is the company that will continue to grow.

    While ignoring these trends may bring short-term savings, going against what clients expect will not create sustained growth over the long term. Any company that wants sustainable growth must consider and accommodate the expanding range of rules and expectations in balance with their value proposition in order to continue building.

    Related: Ethics In Business: Why You Shouldn’t Put A Price On Your Integrity

    Equal freedom to grow

    In life, we all have unlimited freedom to grow — as individuals, partners and leaders, but also for our companies. This freedom is not necessarily an innate right, but rather the limitlessness of our potential to learn more and develop our skills to attain greater achievements. However, to ensure equal freedom for all, our pursuit of individual freedom must not come at the cost of the freedom of others. These limits establish the scope of what our freedom can entail — the boundaries within which we can build, manage and sustain our growth.

    Equality in our freedom to grow is not sameness, neither in how much we grow nor the path we take to get there. Giving a group of people all the bananas they want might seem like equality to someone who loves bananas, but those allergic to bananas would see the situation differently.

    To be equal, everyone needs a fair chance to obtain however much of whatever fruit they want. Maybe “as many as I want” is less for some. Maybe the fruit I want is more challenging to obtain, but I am willing to put in extra effort to pursue it. Many compromises can still demonstrate equal freedom if everyone accepts the resulting limitations as equal. Just like hockey, you may come with a different size and weight, but with the rules accepted, you have a fair chance to win if you fight hard and smart both on the ice and off.

    The limitlessness of opportunity within those limits

    People today have higher standards with more access to information about companies and their leaders. Leaders now have to think about DEI and ESG initiatives on top of other business limitations to their freedom to grow — our abilities and natural laws, as well as these newly-evolved legal and ethical boundaries that must be considered. Meeting these limits is now a balance of following the right rules and considering the expectations (and additional boundaries) of these new stakeholders in the game.

    If I were to take as many as I wanted of a rare fruit from a largely undeveloped rainforest, today’s consumers would see this as coming at the cost of their well-being because of its impact on the environment and society’s well-being. My fruit-harvesting team would need to be inclusive and diverse to attract top talent and maintain a positive public reputation. Additionally, I would need to consider ways to minimize our interference and impact within the rainforest so that, once harvested, the forest will have enough time to return to its undeveloped state.

    But within all these parameters, we can still find infinite growth opportunities. Despite the rules in hockey, there are still endless ways players can improve: their skating, speed, timing, body strength, knowledge of plays and the skills on the opposing team, to name a few. In the same way, there are infinite parts to the puzzle of pieces that impact a company’s ability to improve despite the limits of modern business standards. By studying the floor plan deeper, we find more ways to improve in more areas and sustain greater company growth.

    Related: 5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Growing (or Scaling) a Business

    Staying within those limits makes us competitive

    I like to put myself in other people’s shoes to better understand their boundaries and how I can grow without infringing on those limits. Of course, someone could choose to ignore how others feel for the immediate benefits, but stepping on other people’s toes in the pursuit of growth can be dangerous. It might work the first time, but the second time it happens, they tend to fight back. After a couple of times of pursuing short-term benefits at the cost of others, you may find no one wants to work with you anymore.

    Meeting every demand from every possible perspective could be an endless investment of time and resources, so the best way to approach these evolving expectations is to focus on building our own strength, just like how a hockey player does. For companies, it is the value proposition: what we do well, how we connect that ability with a solution to bring the benefit to our customers and how we solve it in a unique way that no one else does or even can. Just as we have the freedom to grow in ourselves and our companies, we are limitless in developing a better value proposition. By incorporating more of the details we learn about the “floor plan” and its boundaries (rules, standards, expectations), we narrow our efforts toward building more of the limitless achievements within them.

    We must make efforts to meet these new expectations for sustained growth today, but those efforts must support, not hinder, our own freedom for growth. This framework is universal and applicable to all businesses of any size, from a small fruit-cart operation to a multinational corporation and everything else in between.

    Related: 5 Ways to Succeed in a Competitive Environment

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    Simin Cai, Ph.D.

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  • 6 Ways to Outpace Your Competitors During a Recession | Entrepreneur

    6 Ways to Outpace Your Competitors During a Recession | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    There’s been a lot of debate about whether the U.S. is in a recession or not. The economic signals have been confusing at best — interest rates are rising, two banks have failed, and there have been many well-publicized layoffs at major tech companies.

    However, the jobs report has been largely positive, and signs indicate that inflation is slowing. In short, whether or not we’re headed for a recession is anyone’s best guess.

    But as a business owner, you can take steps to prepare ahead of time. By planning and acting strategically, you can use economic uncertainty as an opportunity to grow your business and stand out among your competitors.

    Related: 4 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Achieve Massive Growth in a Recession

    Build up your cash reserves

    A cash reserve is always important because it improves the financial stability of your business. But it’s even more critical during a recession when your revenue and profits can suddenly drop, putting a strain on your cash flow.

    Poor cash flow can make it difficult for your company to pay its bills, resulting in late fees and strained relationships. If the situation gets bad enough, you could even be forced to close your business altogether.

    One of the best ways to improve your cash flow is by watching your spending. Look at your budget, and identify any areas that can be reduced or eliminated. You can negotiate your contracts with suppliers and reduce any discretionary spending.

    From there, focus on building up your cash reserves, especially your emergency savings. You can also consider taking out a line of credit as an additional cash reserve. With a line of credit, you can draw from it on an as-needed basis but only have to repay what you actually borrowed.

    Invest in technology

    Next, look for ways to increase your operational efficiency by investing in technology. The right technology can help you improve your internal processes and better serve your customers.

    For example, self-service chatbots allow you to keep in constant contact with your customers, even when your sales team isn’t available. Investing in analytics can help you identify what’s working and what isn’t, so you can make data-driven decisions about your business.

    Investing in technology ensures that your business can continue to thrive during the recession. That way, when the economy does rebound, you’re not starting over from zero.

    You might think that making an investment of this caliber isn’t worthwhile in poor economic times, but the savings you yield after you’ve implemented new technology could offset the cost of your financing and drive further revenue. With the right lender, you can use financing to cover the purchase and preserve cash flow.

    Related: 5 Ways to Protect Your Business From a Recession

    Focus on customer retention

    During a recession, you should double down on your customer retention efforts. Keeping a customer is always less expensive than acquiring a new one, so the majority of your efforts should be focused on keeping your current customers happy.

    Make sure your customers are happy with the service you’re currently providing them. Focus on quality above quantity — during an economic downturn, the worst thing you can do is sacrifice the quality of your products or services in the name of productivity.

    Come up with a marketing strategy focused on customer retention. This might include offering discounts or implementing a loyalty program to reward repeat business.

    Expand into new markets

    Many people don’t realize that recessions can be a great opportunity to expand your current business model. That’s partly because there’s less competition during a recession. Instead of looking to expand, most businesses will retreat and focus on survival above all else.

    Layoffs are common during a recession, and businesses that are hiring will often lowball potential employees out of fear of spending money. That means you’ll have more access to talented employees who can help move your business forward.

    Unfortunately, some businesses will be forced to close their doors, which will create an opening in the market. Customers will be looking for new solutions to meet their needs, which allows you to step in.

    Before you can successfully expand into a new market, you’ll need to take some time to pay attention to shifting consumer demands. Over time, you’ll find opportunities to offer additional products and services and expand your current customer base.

    Related: For Savvy Entrepreneurs, an Economic Downturn Creates Opportunity

    Focus on company culture

    During a recession, most employees will start to feel worried about their jobs and financial security. That’s why it’s important to continue focusing on company culture. Your employees are your most important asset, and when they succeed, your business will succeed.

    Look for ways to continue engaging your team and offer good pay and benefits. Not only will this create more loyalty among your current employees, but it will make your company more attractive to future job candidates.

    Consider taking out a line of credit

    Finally, it’s a good idea to consider taking out a line of credit before you need it. During a recession, banks and credit unions tend to tighten their lending standards, so it’s a good idea to secure the funds you need before your credit line is reduced.

    A line of credit is a good option for businesses with fluctuating cash flow needs. It can help you fund new investment opportunities as they arise. For instance, if you plan to invest in new technology or additional inventory, a line of credit gives you access to the funds you need.

    Even if you don’t have any immediate plans to invest in your company, a line of credit can be used as an additional cash reserve for your business.

    An economic downturn brings a lot of uncertainty, but there are opportunities to be found as well. Focus on staying visible in the marketplace and continually look for new opportunities to expand. This will put your company in a good position once the economy begins to recover.

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    Joseph Camberato

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  • 4 Key Questions to Ask When Analyzing Competition | Entrepreneur

    4 Key Questions to Ask When Analyzing Competition | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Whether pitching your company for funding from startup investors or putting together a business plan to present to the bank, building a competitive analysis is a typical exercise when you launch a business. On that plan, you’ll always see competitors’ names, customers’ demographics and pricing strategies, and you may even plot them nicely on a graph to show where your brand sits within the competitive landscape.

    But, far too often, the competitive analysis is just that — an exercise — and it should be much, much more because understanding the competition and having valuable insights to adjust your own business strategy has never been more important.

    We talk a lot about how many businesses fail in their first years, but the truth is that entrepreneurs are still keeping at it. According to the Small Business Administration, approximately 25% more new businesses opened than closed from March 2020 to March 2021.

    While this is exciting news, it means that there are even more competitors out in the world trying to scoop up market share, which means that doing a competitive analysis is only the first step. Getting the right information and putting it to work in your business strategy is essential.

    Here are the four things you need to learn from your competitive analysis and why:

    1. What are the actual products and services being offered by my competitors?

    One of the common mistakes that a founder will make is simply identifying their competitors by which businesses out in the world are serving the same target customer as they are.

    Why is this a problem?

    Not every business that serves your customer in the same niche is a competitor. In fact, they might actually be a great strategic partner.

    Start by taking a hard look at what your competitor is doing. Does their product or service have the same features? Does it have the same benefits as yours? Ask yourself if a customer can use both products or if using one cancels out the need for the other.

    If you’re unclear about whether or not a company is a competitor to yours, dig deeper. Sign up for a demo, purchase a sample, or reach out and talk to their customers.

    This is how you determine if a company is actually a competitor; if your customer can reasonably shop with both brands, you may not be in direct competition like you previously thought.

    Related: The Ultimate Guide to Competitive Research for Small Businesses

    2. How are your competitors positioning themselves, and who are the customers they appeal to most?

    Years ago, I worked with a client in the activewear space. It’s easy to see that the space was very saturated with competition. Some initial customer research got us responses from people saying, “That’s so expensive; why would I pay that much for a pair of running pants when I can get them for $20 at X?”

    And every time, the founder would say, “Well, that’s not our customer.” She knew that her ideal customer wasn’t just any woman who liked to workout. Her niche was the customer who was a serious athlete and cared more about the quality of the running pants than their price.

    And she was right.

    According to a study conducted by HubSpot, companies that prioritize their niche marketing strategies experience a 75% higher conversion rate than those that do not. The study also found that businesses focusing on their niche are more likely to generate qualified leads and achieve higher ROI.

    Once you determine your true competitors, it’s time to learn more about their position in the market — and yours. Every brand has a niche where they are the perfect solution for the pain points of a particular type of customer — the key is figuring out who that customer is by taking a deeper look at what language your competition is using and who exactly they are trying to speak to.

    3. What is the competition doing for marketing?

    Marketing is an essential part of building a business today. There is so much competition out in the world; it would be folly to expect our customers to be able to find us on their own.

    According to a report by Marketo, companies that prioritize marketing efforts are 13 times more likely to see positive ROI than those that don’t. The report also found that businesses that prioritize marketing can achieve higher brand recognition and increase customer loyalty, ultimately leading to increased revenue and brand growth.

    By analyzing what your competitors are doing on the marketing front, you can gain valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t in your market. You’ll gain critical insight into where you should be spending your energy and budget for maximum returns.

    Keeping an eye on your competitors also allows you to stay ahead of industry trends and respond quickly to changes in the market.

    Have they stopped doing Facebook messenger and started engaging customers via SMS?

    Are they moving their social efforts from Instagram to Tik Tok?

    Are they spending more time engaging influencers to create video content instead of posting blogs?

    By learning from your competitors, you can continually improve your marketing strategy and maintain a competitive edge, improve your marketing efforts and avoid costly mistakes when it comes to how you spend your time and budget.

    Related: You Need to Spy On Your Competition to Succeed: Business Spying 101

    4. Discover areas of opportunity

    As businesses, we can always do better, and that’s very true of your competition. Competitive analysis can help you not only identify where your competitors are crushing it but it will also allow you to discover any gaps in the market that you may be able to fill.

    Once you’ve analyzed your true competition, you may find that they are ignoring a specific customer segment, lack in customer service or experience, or are failing to innovate.

    These are all opportunities of untapped potential that will allow you to differentiate yourself from your competitors and create a blue ocean for your brand.

    According to a study by McKinsey & Company, companies that create blue oceans outperform their competitors by an average of 14 times over ten years, allowing them to escape the fierce competition in existing market spaces (red oceans) and develop new pathways to profitability.

    I agree with Simon Sinek’s perspective that our biggest competition is within ourselves, but we start separating our brand from the pack through competitive analysis. Despite the challenges in gaining a competitive edge, it is a worthy pursuit that can be achieved by selecting the right questions and using the insights gained to guide strategic decisions. Through this process, brand leaders can successfully differentiate their companies and achieve serious growth.

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    Shauna Armitage

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  • Most Entrepreneurs Miss Out On This Crucial Step to Success

    Most Entrepreneurs Miss Out On This Crucial Step to Success

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s not hard to imagine this scenario: An entrepreneur experiences a problem and decides to build a solution to solve it. It works well, they love the solution and choose to start a business around it. The entrepreneur puts in a lot of energy, time and money to bring the new business into the world. Then they launch the business. And nothing happens. They simply can’t sell their solution.

    Whether you’ve launched a new small business or a high-growth startup, you’ve got an uphill battle before you. About 20% of startups won’t survive past their first year in business. There are many reasons why a new business won’t make it, but the one thing I see consistently as a fractional CMO is that the entrepreneur in charge hasn’t done their research.

    Doing market research in the early stages of building a company — and regularly after launching — is essential to validate a business idea and build something your market wants to buy.

    Yet, this essential step is often overlooked or simply ignored by many business owners. Why?

    First, it can be a lot of work. Furthermore, according to Vernon Research Group, you can expect to spend anywhere from $4,000 up to $50,000, depending on your research.

    Put those two factors together, and it becomes clearer why entrepreneurs are skipping this step. The truth, however, is that market research can be easy and cost-effective for small business owners. Here are four strategies for running effective market research on a budget.

    Related: Why Applying Constant Pressure on Yourself Can Significantly Improve Your Productivity and Success

    1. Interviews and surveys

    My favorite way to gather information for market research is to write down the questions I want answers to and have the answers documented through video interviews or surveys.

    The more people you can get to give you their insights, the better. To get the most responses for your survey or interviewees to meet with you, you’ve got to start asking. This can be done by posting on your own social media channels, identifying your target customer on LinkedIn and sending them a message asking for help, or even running ads on social media.

    The key here is to get scrappy, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and keep going until you have enough information documented to make an educated decision about how to move forward.

    Related: The Best Ways to Do Market Research for Your Business Plan

    2. Competitive analysis

    Although it is often undervalued, there is a lot to be said for conducting a thorough competitive analysis to inform the next steps to take in your business.

    Researching your competition means stepping beyond comparing your business to one or two others. Find eight to 12 companies that could be considered your competition and analyze everything they do, not just their product features. Who are they identifying as the target market? What are they highlighting in their messaging? What are their price points? How are they showing up on social media?

    A strong competitive analysis will help you to identify more clearly how your market is currently being served and how you can fill the gaps.

    Related: How To Spy on Your Competition With Social Media

    3. Tap into the communities of your target market

    We are now connected online more than ever before in human history, and people gather in digital spaces over the things that connect them, from their love of pets to their personal challenges. Find the communities where your target market spends their time, follow their conversations and start engaging.

    Facebook groups, Twitter and LinkedIn are ideal platforms for identifying and joining communities where your ideal customer might connect with others around a problem you are solving.

    4. Start asking questions publicly

    Arguably, Quora and Reddit could also be called communities where your target market lives. However, the way people engage and interact on these platforms is fundamentally different. On Facebook groups, Twitter and LinkedIn, you need to spend time engaging and building rapport with others in the community.

    On Quora and Reddit, it’s a bit easier to join an existing conversation or post a question and get a direct response from the community at any time, as long as you have a thoughtful, non-promotional question to ask.

    These two platforms will likely be the quickest way to start your market research.

    The big problem with skipping market research is that you risk building a product or service that no one wants. It’s essential to spend the time — before you start building — to identify your target market, find them, and get feedback on what you’re trying to create.

    You simply can’t afford to overlook it or assume you know what the market wants or needs.

    Market research is a key component to successfully launching any new business. With a little time and effort, you can successfully confirm that your product has a spot in the market and move forward confidently.

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    Shauna Armitage

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  • 5 Proven Tips for Better Defining Your Business’ Unique Value Proposition

    5 Proven Tips for Better Defining Your Business’ Unique Value Proposition

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The business world is incredibly competitive — which is undoubtedly why roughly 45% of businesses fail within five years of opening.

    While there are many reasons why a business could fail, one of the biggest roadblocks to success is not having a well-defined unique value proposition (UVP). If you can’t effectively communicate to your customers why your business and its products or services are unique from your competitors, you’re going to have a hard time standing out.

    On the other hand, when you are able to better define your unique value proposition, you can stake out a strong position in your niche and make a lasting impression on customers.

    Related: Your Value Proposition Is Crucial. Here Are 5 Steps to Ensure It Resonates.

    1. Focus on your ideal customer

    You won’t get far if you don’t understand your ideal customer. Many brands achieve this by creating buyer personas through market research and gathering insights from their current customers.

    The deeper you can dig into your ideal customer’s wants, needs, struggles and so on — the things that “make them tick” — the easier it will be to identify the types of messages that will be most impactful for them.

    2. Understand the core elements of your unique value proposition

    A successful UVP focuses on the benefits of your product or service, as well as how you are different from your competition. These elements are what ultimately communicate the value of your brand and why it would be worthwhile for your ideal consumer to do business with you.

    Start by listing the benefits offered by your product or service. How do you solve the specific problems your ideal customer faces on a regular basis? Then, identify the ways your offering is different from the competition. This will likely require extensive market research, but it could include anything from more affordable pricing to additional features not found in competitors’ products.

    With each of these lists, you should consider how the unique aspects of your product or service provide value to your customers. This then becomes the core focus of your messaging, and your next step is to communicate that message in a way that makes sense and appeals to your target audience.

    Related: How to Develop a Winning Value Proposition (Infographic)

    3. Frame your UVP with storytelling

    At my marketing agency, we use storytelling to pitch our clients because quite frankly, even though numbers can be convincing, they are also boring. After working on the previous two tips, you’re in a good position to tell a story that places the customer as the hero and then highlights what you’ve learned from your own challenges and how it can help them with the problem they’re trying to solve.

    Entrepreneurs should try to frame their UVP in a storytelling format to hone in on presenting it in a way that will truly appeal to the customer. Customers don’t want to hear about how your team went to work and accomplished what they set out to do. But they will connect with relatable stories of your own struggles and lessons learned and how they can be applied to their lives in the form of your product or service.

    4. Identify what you don’t do

    One way to better differentiate yourself from others in your niche is to take the time to define what you don’t do. This could include the things that you’re not good at or the things that others in your niche do that you actively dislike and avoid.

    Related: What is Your Value Proposition?

    5. Test and iterate

    When it comes to writing books, authors are sometimes advised to put their work through a whopping 10 drafts before their work can be considered complete. Think of the amount of time and effort that would go into continually revising a 300-page novel. Your UVP may not require as much revision time, but it certainly deserves its share of testing, revising and optimizing before it becomes your core marketing message.

    Ideally, you should enlist the help of your target audience when revising your UVP. Use their impressions and feedback to identify how you can improve your messaging and make it more clear. A/B testing of multiple versions of your UVP could also be helpful to see which message resonates best with customers.

    When developed properly, your unique value proposition can be so much more than a corporate statement. It can be the true core of your brand identity that drives your decision-making and how you market yourself to your target audience. By developing a compelling UVP, you will make a far more convincing sales pitch that puts your business on track for long-term success.

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    Andres Tovar

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  • How to Beat Your Number One Competitor (It’s Not Who You Think)

    How to Beat Your Number One Competitor (It’s Not Who You Think)

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    While studies such as CB Insight’s report on the top 13 reasons startups fail indicate that cash flow, no market need and internal dissent amongst founders are what leads to corporate closure, I argue that customer apathy is actually the root cause; those are simply the symptoms. Apathy is defined as a “lack of responsiveness to something that might normally excite interest or emotion.”

    In a fickle world stymied by a melee of advertising from deep-pocketed corporations and a plethora of products auditioning for our limited and desensitized attention span, it’s more than differentiation (that our business schools used to implore us to follow) that will unlock customers’ wallets. We need to be firing on all cylinders in order to build what our customers are begging for quietly and focus our attention solely on them more than our competition does.

    Related: 5 Ways to Dominate Your Competition

    Customer proximity is a competitive advantage

    Attentive, unbiased listening, feedback-driven product development and empathetic relationship-building are paramount in a transactionally driven, utilitarian and apathetic world.

    The crux of this design-thinking approach can credit its notoriety to the leading design and innovation firm, Ideo (Palo Alto, Calif.). Tim Brown, Executive Chair of Ideo, offers a simplified definition for us, “Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.”

    A key piece of the design-thinking model includes empathy — which, by definition, requires the designer (entrepreneur) to get as close to the user as possible to fully understand (empathize) their problems, identify their shared goals and design viable solutions that hit the mark (all within the limits of the business’ predefined constraints).

    Ideo’s design-thinking framework unpacks the technique further, “Thinking like a designer can transform the way organizations develop products, services, processes, and strategy. This approach, which is known as design thinking, brings together what is desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable. It also allows people who aren’t trained as designers to use creative tools to address a vast range of challenges.”

    Related: How Design Thinking Can Help You Ask the Right Questions (And Get the Right Answers)

    Knowing your customer’s fears, goals and challenges helps you design experiences that delight and spark joy

    The small restaurant owner that spends considerable time sitting down with clients to revise the menu and optimize for specific personas (groups of customers that hold shared beliefs — e.g., vegan, plant-based options, Kosher items, etc.) makes a lasting impression that builds transactional empathy which counters de facto market apathy. The coffee shop owner that launches a valued customer punch card that rewards patrons with a free cup of coffee every ten cups instills reciprocal goodwill that spurs future repeat business. The ecommerce shop that overnights that gift just in time for the party and waves the fee gets an A+ in the shopper’s mind and fills up their hearts with lasting, intangible goodwill.

    Related: 3 Super Simple Ways to Understand What Your Customer Wants

    Design thinking uncovers which emotions founders must build products and services around

    Great products and services connect on a deep, emotional level with their users. By focusing on your customer more than your competition does, you can win faster and far easier — and spend less time staring at your competition. This may sound trite, but I have seen it over and over in my consulting with small business owners and founders, whereby they spend the first few months focusing on understanding the market needs and then (post-launch) pivot completely away from a user-driven (design thinking) model and later shift into a market-driven model where they focus on beating the competition. This often leads to service mimicry, discounting (which erodes gross margins) and eventually downsizing or dissolution.

    While understanding where your competition is currently playing on a market matrix is helpful, it’s actually quite distracting for most entrepreneurs and pulls them further away from serving their customer base. In my opinion, the primary goal isn’t to beat the competition on market share — it’s to win customer loyalty, and you can only do that by paying more attention to them than your competition is willing to do. Market share is a byproduct of winning hearts and minds first.

    For the next 30 days, instead of worrying about what your competition is up to, try focusing intently on your own market leveraging a design thinking approach. Innovation, customer service and customer retention get supremely easier once you begin to listen more and design from your customer’s point of view.

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    Reagan Pollack

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  • How to Produce Quality Competitive Intelligence

    How to Produce Quality Competitive Intelligence

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Competitive intelligence, or CI, is a crucial component of business strategy. It helps you understand your competitors, identify new opportunities and better predict market trends.

    Competitive intelligence is a continuous process, not a one-off briefing document. It is also not just about the competition. It also includes insights into your client and their needs, which can help them to get ahead of the game in their industry. You’ll be able to anticipate trends and opportunities before they happen, giving your clients a competitive advantage over their competitors and allowing them to grow their business faster than those who don’t have access to this kind of information.

    Related: Your Business is Failing Because You Have a Bad Strategy. Here Are 5 Hacks for the Perfect Business Strategy

    Don’t rely on what you think your clients or competitors want

    We often assume that we know what our clients or competitors want — this is a mistake. It’s easy to do this when you’re working with a firm from a similar industry, but it’s important to remember that every client has unique needs and interests.

    You should always start by asking questions about the business objectives of your client or competitor. These questions will give you insight into what they are trying to accomplish and how they hope to achieve it — information that can be invaluable when crafting reports for them in the future.

    Gain other perspectives

    There are four primary groups you need to speak with:

    • Users of your product or service, including current and former users. They can tell you how they use it, why they like it or don’t. They can also give insight into the people who don’t like it. And if they’re former users, they may have valuable information on why they left. You’ll want as much detail as possible so that you can make use of that data in competitive intelligence analysis later on (for example, “Users say this feature is confusing.”)
    • People who do not use your product or service but would potentially be interested in using it if they knew more about what it does and how well it works. These are potential customers for whom there may not currently be an opportunity for purchase — they don’t know enough about your offering yet! Get them talking about their business needs so that you can market effectively in the future. For example: “This company thinks our product could help them solve their problem.”
    • People who do not currently use a competitor’s product or service but would potentially become a customer if offered one at an attractive price point or with better features than those offered by competitors (e..g., “These guys love our product because we provide X at only half its competitors’ price.”) If these folks were already using something else — and had a good reason why — you’d want to know if there’s anything specific about those products/services which makes them unsatisfactory; if yes then perhaps these shortcomings could be remedied through innovation efforts within yourself?
    • People who are already using your product or service but have not yet been convinced of its value (e.g., “We’re working on getting these guys to see the benefits of our product; we think they will like it once they try it.”). These are potential customers that you may need to spend more time educating about why your offering is better than competitors’ offerings.

    Related: Customer Intelligence As a Revenue Predictor

    Fully understand your audience and their needs

    It’s imperative to understand the needs of your audience and the needs of your competitors. A comprehensive competitive intelligence program can provide a wealth of information that will help you better understand the landscape, your customers’ needs and how they behave toward their competitors.

    Understanding the needs of your audience is essential for any successful business venture. You need to know what matters to them so that you can meet those needs with an innovative solution or product. This can be as simple as knowing who they are (demographics), where they live (geography) or what they like (lifestyle). It could also mean understanding what motivates them; why would someone buy one product over another? How many people do I need to sell my product annually to break even?

    Related: 9 Ways to Meet and Understand Your Audience

    Identify different audience segments

    Once you’ve identified your audience, the next step is to segment them into different groups based on their needs. This will allow you to craft a solution that meets all those needs. For example, if you’re selling a product aimed at helping people lose weight, one group could be people who need something simple and easy to use. Another group might be more tech-savvy and want something more complex and customizable. Knowing how each audience segment views fitness products will help you see what aspects of your offering are most important for each audience type.

    Related: 7 Outdated Habits That Will Paralyze Your Business

    Experimentation can help understand clients and competitors and identify new opportunities

    Experimentation is a vital part of the process. Experimentation can help you better understand your clients and competitors, identify new opportunities and discover how to make your offerings more competitive. Such an example is A/B testing. This type of experiment compares two versions of a single element to see which one performs better by improving conversions, sales or whatever else you’re looking for. For example, it could be an email subject line A/B test comparing “Doing these four things will help you grow sales” with “Doing these four things will help you grow sales 50%.”

    Ensure you are fully informed before you move forward with a new product or service

    To stay ahead of the curve, you must constantly gather information from as many sources as possible. Talk to your clients and ensure you are fully informed before moving forward with a new product or service. Conduct interviews about what they think are missing in the market, and see if a gap needs filling. Look at data from recent surveys, reviews or complaints that your company has received. Look at what competitors are doing and take notes on what’s working for them and what isn’t. Talk to people in your industry who can give feedback on how they perceive your business and suggestions on how it could improve its services or offerings.

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    Christopher Massimine

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  • 5 Ways Businesses Benefit From Having a Tech-Savvy CEO

    5 Ways Businesses Benefit From Having a Tech-Savvy CEO

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In the digital age, you are either moving along with technology or being left behind by an entire industry. As everything is taking on a technological advancement approach, the best decision a board of directors can make for a company is to ensure the leadership is tech-savvy, or at the very least, can grasp these concepts quickly. The essence of a cutting-edge idea or innovation is its ability to solve existing problems that present a challenge for a large population. However, today, whatever innovative and people-conscious a company attempts to be, the cream of the crop is set apart based on its technical components.

    Looking at it from the other end, a CEO whose only focus is on technology and coding cannot successfully run a business because while it has fresh technical concepts, it lacks other equally vital aspects of running a business. For instance, without marketing, well-coordinated and balanced finance and customer service, even with the best tech, a company will innovate only to maximize storage space. The bottom line is that a CEO needs to be well-versed in many different factions of business. However, in today’s world, a tech-savvy CEO significantly gives the company an upper hand in the market.

    Since we have already established that technical know-how is a crucial component for visionary companies, our natural next step is to analyze any benefits a company enjoys by having a tech-savvy CEO:

    Related: 6 Things You as a Leader Need To Know About Technology

    1. Bridging generational gaps

    A lack of the foundational skills that younger employees have learned might lead to a significant gap between management and staff, which could be problematic for the CEO and the direction of the business. According to Jay Leonard of Business 2 Community, millennials are stepping into employment with high expectations of how technology should be utilized. They can incorporate consumer app stores in their work to compensate for where older technology leaves a gap. With a tech-savvy CEO, the importance of such advancement is not lost. Communicating and understanding each other is more accessible when these tools are readily available.

    2. Understanding what matters and what doesn’t

    Technology continues to evolve every day. This can present a challenge for a CEO who is not tech-savvy. How? First, they will struggle to sift through what is available and necessary for their business. You cannot use everything available, and knowing what you require might be difficult when you don’t understand what each has to offer or what your company needs.

    Secondly, the employment front might also suffer. You will need to know how to separate academics from fundamental skills and technical know-how. If the CEO’s technical skills are somewhat lacking, they will need an effective team in the tech department. This aspect of your business will be left for co-workers and employees to run. Essentially, even with their advice, it takes away the CEO’s decision-making capacity. While there is no problem relying on employees, the company’s future needs a CEO who knows the basics and can make unbiased decisions.

    Related: Are Your Technology Decisions Helping or Hurting Your Employees?

    3. Incorporating tech-based solutions

    Technology can improve whatever it is — from your sales statistics to efficiency and productivity. When the phenomenon was examined, researchers discovered that many companies grow incredibly after incorporating tech-based solutions into their businesses. The tools required for this step are relatively accessible, but before you get to them, you will need a CEO with tech knowledge to give directives and choose to incorporate them into the organization. If a CEO lacks the expertise, the company suffers as well. For instance, accomplishing the company’s KPI will become more expensive if the CEO makes the wrong decision about which technical components to implement.

    4. Creating sustainability

    In this case, sustainability refers to a company that can stand the test of time and remains relevant for many years. Look at a company like Microsoft, which started in the 20th century, and how it managed to stay pertinent as one of the most successful software companies today. Almost every year, Microsoft unveils new technology. They have expanded their reach from software to include hardware, and while exploring their limits, they have kept up with developments in the tech world to maintain relevance. When cloud storage came about, OneDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage, was brought into play.

    The most sustainable companies that will continue to dominate the industry have technologically advanced CEOs. As times change and technology develops, they can make decisions for the business to usher it into the new era.

    Related: How Technology is Evolving to Make Companies More Productive

    5. Gaining a competitive advantage through the use of artificial intelligence

    Machine learning algorithms will bear the immense task of sorting through terabytes of information every minute. Massive amounts of data collection will be meaningless without artificial intelligence-powered computational models. The CEO can therefore redirect the human resources to deal with more pressing and urgent issues.

    Ilya Lipovich, Forbes Councils Member, believes that with this cutting-edge technology, firms can develop a long-lasting competitive edge that their rivals are unaware of. This feat alone could give a business a long-term strategic advantage that gives it a leg up over competitors.

    While assuming that tech savviness is the only determinant for a good company CEO, it is also presumptuous and reductive since the many factions of the company also need governance and direction. At the same time, the digital age makes technological know-how an essential skill for the development, sustainability and rational decision-making that give a company its competitive edge.

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    Steve Taplin

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  • 4 Smart Ways to Deal With Your Competitors

    4 Smart Ways to Deal With Your Competitors

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The subject of competition can be a very polarizing thing. Many of the world’s most successful professionals proclaim they’re obsessively competitive, almost to a fault. The reality is that if you’re starting a business and you plan to have your business grow, you’ll eventually run into someone who had or has a very similar idea to the one that you can’t stop thinking about. In fact, there are probably 20 different articles on the subject of competition that are competing for clicks with this very article!

    So as entrepreneurs, how should we be thinking about our competitive landscape? These are a few of the observations I made as I wrestled with our competitors in the process of building my company:

    Related: How to Set Yourself Apart From the Competition

    1. Don’t ignore it

    When starting something new, it’s important to do a complete market scan to understand what and who you’re up against. Size your market, and list out your direct competitors, frenemies, as well as firms that are one or two moves away from becoming direct competitors. Figure out how much they’ve raised, the depth and breadth of their product offering and the experience of their founders and team. Use tools like Google Trends to understand key terms that are popular and commonly searched in your category to help inform your positioning relative to your competitors.

    If you’re unable to find at least three competitors in your space, that’s usually a pretty bad sign. It’s rare to be the first and only product to market. In most cases, entrepreneurs that claim to be “the only product” in the market are still searching for an actual market and problem to solve. Unless you have a unique insight with real customer traction inside of a category you’re creating, it’s usually easier to innovate and disrupt incumbents in an established category with a known problem and a defined buyer profile.

    2. Don’t be afraid to share more

    Oftentimes, entrepreneurs are hesitant to share any information publicly about their business or the product they’re building. In reality, your incumbents, particularly large established vendors, couldn’t care less about what you’re building. You could literally call the lead product manager working on a product in your space and share your business with them. There’s a very low likelihood that they do anything with the information you share with them.

    Big companies have established roadmaps that are difficult to adjust. Even if one of your established competitors wanted to compete with you, it would require them to shift resources off of their current priorities to do so. We went as far as publishing our roadmap publicly for customers and prospective partners to see when and how we were prioritizing things. That actually became an opportunity and moment for us to flex our position and our focus.

    When we built our company, one of our direct competitors immediately signed up for one of our free trials. They even took a prospective “partnership” call to get intel and information about our business. Two years later, that same company came back to us and offered to acquire us for a generous multiple of our revenues. In short, it could work to your benefit to share MORE with your competitors. Established competitors may realize how far behind they are in your category and make you an acquisition offer to accelerate their roadmap or build out their team.

    Related: 3 Reasons You Should Spy on Your Competition

    3. Don’t be an a-hole

    As markets heat up, competition can become fierce, particularly if there’s a limited window or land grab opportunity to establish yourself as a category leader. In the heat of battle, it can be tempting to start trash-talking your competitors when in a shared sales cycle. Don’t do it.

    It’s okay to highlight the differences between your product and your competitor’s product but do so in a way that elevates both positions while allowing you to reinforce your advantage. For example, if you’re selling to an enterprise customer segment and speaking with a SMB customer, there’s no harm in referring that prospect to a competitor that is focused on selling down market. Not only are you signaling that you genuinely care about the product fit for that customer, but you’re also demonstrating that you don’t NEED their business. Confidence is cool.

    When you elect to throw stones at competitors, it suggests you’re overcompensating for something. Prospects can smell desperation from a mile away, and that smell can carry over to future selling opportunities if you let it. Most importantly, don’t disparage your competitors in written form. I’ve had multiple prospects forward me emails from my competitor’s founders/CEOs with all of the apparent flaws in our product and business.

    Not only was this great bulletin board material that motivated our sales and product teams, but it also helped us uncover a new market opportunity that we hadn’t considered and that our competitor was beginning to sell successfully. We were second to market with this product; However, we executed better and ultimately won the category, thanks to the insight from our largest competitor.

    4. Don’t let it consume you

    Competition can be addictive. The highs and lows of success and defeat are what make the game of entrepreneurship fun. It can also be incredibly humbling, particularly when we’re on the losing end of a competitive sales scenario.

    Related: Don’t Declare War. Respect Competitors, and Capitalize on Your Own Strengths.

    I’m not suggesting that our marketing teams put down their battle cards or that we stop arming our sales teams with the resources they need to set “landmines” for competitive sales scenarios. However, your competitors are one data point that can help inform your understanding of the market you’re operating in. Use competition as an accelerant for your own learning and self-improvement. There can (and will) be multiple winners in a category. This is validation that your category is growing, which in turn drives more attention to the space you’re building in. Don’t run from it. Embrace it.

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    Justin Vandehey

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