How to establish and use your competitive advantage.

In your business you need to know what you are bringing to the market and how it differentiates you from your competitors. What makes you competitive? Too many people think it only comes down to price. In some businesses this may be so and in these cases 'branding' becomes important to create the differentiation.

How do you see your competitive strengths? Here's how to find them. Are you competitive on?

Price.

Service.

Quality.

Speed of delivery.

Uniqueness.

Experience.

Knowledge.

Contacts.

Resources.

And any other factors you may think of.

When you have a comprehensive list put Yes or No against each. You can then go through your list and rank each factor in its importance to getting you more business. You then know what your competitive advantage(s) is. Use it/them to grow your business.

As you grow your business your confidence in knowing what you are bringing to your customers will also grow. What is more as you understand more about how you outrank your competitors you may be able charge a premium for certain products or services.

Earlier we mentioned 'branding'. Here is how you can decide what makes a brand a success. List your most favourite brands

1

2

3

4

etc.

Alongside each write down what in your opinion makes that item successful. This will be things like, customer service, product quality, value for money, how the business relates to its customers, etc.

You will now understand what makes a brand successful and just may be you can start to brand your own business, product or service. It's all about getting that vital competitive advantage.

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.

Best wishes,

Michael Harrison.

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