• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

PESTLE Analysis

SWOT and Business Analysis Tools

  • PEST Analysis
    • What is PESTLE Analysis?
    • How to Do a PEST Analysis
    • PESTLE Analysis Templates
    • ALL PEST Articles
  • SWOT Analysis
    • What is a SWOT Analysis?
    • How to Do a SWOT Analysis
    • SWOT Analysis Templates
    • SWOT Analysis Examples
    • ALL SWOT Articles
  • Business Analysis
    • PESTEL Analysis
    • STEEP Analysis
    • Marketing Analysis
    • Environmental Analysis
    • Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis
    • VRIO Analysis
    • Outlier Analysis
    • BCG Matrix
    • Marketing Mix
    • Horizontal Integration
  • Students
  • Entrepreneurs

Questions You Need to Ask When Conducting Competitive Analysis

Nov 20, 2019 by PESTLEanalysis Contributor

Running a business isn’t easy. If it was, then everyone would run their own company rather than work for someone else and spend most of their time following orders. However, if you are willing to work hard and take the required steps, then not only you easily launch a company but you can also run it for a long time without running into major roadblocks. One of the steps is conducting competitive analysis. But the question is- why is competitive analysis important in the first place? The following are some of the reasons why:

questions-to-ask-when-conducting-competitive-analysis

1 – It Helps Determine the USP

If you know one thing that differentiates successful companies from failed ones, then it has to be USP that stands for Unique Selling Proposition. The reason why that’s important is that you are surrounded by rival brands, and the only way you can attract your target demographic is by finding your unique identity, i.e. your USP.

When you conduct competitive analysis, then you are able to take a closer look at your own company. You can pinpoint the things that make your products and services special.  If needed, then you can rebrand everything as we know that designing a brand look isn’t that hard anymore. There are all kinds of online tools that you can use to create powerful brands. Otherwise, you can do good even with improving what you have already built.

2 – It helps to identify the gaps in your offering

You can learn so much from your rivals that here is no reason to avoid them. Instead, you should study their brand positioning and products. This can help you identify the problems with your own company. You can find what you are lacking that others aren’t such as better pricing, good branding, easy product reach, etc. Taking all this into account, you can take appropriate steps and give a boost to your business.

3 – It identifies market threats

Are you aware of other companies that are giving you tough competition? If you aren’t careful and don’t keep your rivals under check, then they can easily undercut you and improve their market positioning. If you don’t want that to ever happen, then be sure to perform competitive analysis on a regular basis as new companies emerge to the surface every other day. This is also how you can identify and manage business risks to a huge extent.

Now that you know why competitive analysis is important, you can consider the following questions that you need to ask when you perform it for your own business:

1. Which are your biggest rivals that can give you serious competition? There is one unsaid rule in business- keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. In other words, you need to keep a close watch on the market leaders and the underdogs that show potential. If at any point you feel that a company can influence your business, then you can take precautionary steps.

2. What kind of products and services your closest rivals offer? You need to identify the best-selling products and services of your competitors and list them down with the correct prices, features and additional details. This can give you a good idea of your current positioning in the market.

3. How Your products/services are different from others? You should draw comparisons and learn what makes your products different from your rivals’. Are they better or worse?

4. What value are you providing that your competitors aren’t? This point again has to do with the USP. If you find that you aren’t offering any significant value, then maybe you can look into ways for improvements in your products/services.

5. How your competitors are treating their customers? Always remember- customer service is important for a business to succeed. So, you can observe how your competitors are treating their customers- some of the ways they are engaging with their patrons, how they are handling negative feedback, etc.

Bottom Line

Competitive analysis is an important part of keeping a business up and running. It’s never a good idea to rest on your laurels as you never know when a rival company overtakes you and steals your customers away. So, be sure to ask the questions above from time to time to stay ahead in the game. Good luck!

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: competitive analysis, competitive strategy

Truvid Video Tag

Primary Sidebar

About PESTLEanalysis.com

PESTEL or PESTLE analysis, also known as PEST analysis, is a tool for business analysis of political, economic, social, and technological factors.

PESTLEanalysis.com is an educational website collecting all the information and resources related not only to PESTLE but also SWOT, STEEPLE and other analysis that will come useful to business owners, entrepreneurs, and students alike.

what-is-pestle-analysis

What is PESTLE Analysis? An Important Business Analysis Tool

What is PESTLE Analysis? PESTLE analysis, which is sometimes referred to as PEST analysis, is a concept in marketing principles. Moreover, this concept is used as a tool by companies to track the environment they’re operating in or are planning to launch a new project/product/service, etc. So, if

Latest Articles

video-conferencing-business-meeting

Reviews About a Technological Platform for Video Conferences and Chat for Business iMind

iMind is a video conferencing platform for video conferences, meetings, conference calls, and chat for business.

doordash-swot-analysis

DoorDash SWOT Analysis 2022

Our DoorDash SWOT analysis sheds light on some of the internal and external factors that affect the food delivery company, such as strengths and, weaknesses.

wells-fargo-swot-analysis

Wells Fargo SWOT Analysis 2022: Strengths and Threats for the Bank

This Wells Fargo SWOT analysis examines the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of one of the top four banks in the banking industry in the US.

Copyright © 2022 · PESTLE Analysis · Powered by WP Engine · Contact · Permissions · Privacy · Sitemap