Have You Surveyed Your Competitive Universe Lately

One important key to success for every small business is to know the competition. In this volatile economy, you competition may be changing rapidly as other local small businesses struggle and go out of business, and large companies change or discontinue product lines and service areas.

A good way to take stock is with a Competitive Universe Analysis.

A Competitive Universe Analysis is a quick visualization of where your business sits in the total consumer marketplace. It uses a bulls-eye diagram, with your company at the center, to identify your first, second, third and fourth level competitors.

Once you understand where your company stands in the competitive universe, you can use that knowledge to:

• Understand your strengths and weaknesses in relation to competition.
• Create new products or services that compete more closely with those successfully offered by outlying competition.
• Decide where to focus your core business so that your level 1 competition list gets smaller.
• Keep your eye on level 2 or 3 competitors and react if they start to erode your market share.
• Target your marketing to customer bases that traditionally purchase from outer level competitors.

PaySimple’s Small Business Growth Center provides a detailed explanation of how to complete a Competitive Universe Analysis, a template you can use, and a sample of a completed analysis.

Take a few minutes today to ponder your universe…go to PaySimple’s Competitive Universe Analysis page now.