A big part of owning a business is competition. But it’s an important part that stimulates the economy and drives innovation. So, to stay ahead of the competition, we must work harder in defining our niche than following industry trends. In this article let’s discuss:
In competitive industries saturated with companies selling similar products or services, it can be very hard to break through the sea of competitors.
In doing so, business owners make mistakes that can cost them a lot of valuable time and money.
We can fall into the trap of following trends, which is not inherently a bad thing. It’s great to keep up with new industry standards and developments and sometimes being an early adopter can actually allow you to gain a lead in the market. But we have to be careful in avoiding trends that take away from the value and perspective of our business.
The two biggest ways we do that are by
You can learn more about why these two trends can hurt businesses in our video here:
The best way to avoid this spiral is by defining your niche.
A niche by definition is a “specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.”
We at ActionCOACH define it to mean no price competition. Businesses we should never compete on price because someone will always be willing to offer “the lowest prices in the market.” Someone will always be willing to undercut you and if you keep playing the game, after a while, you lose the profit.
That’s why we must find other ways to differentiate our business from the competition.
I’ll explain this with a funny story I heard:
The owner of a barbershop, Todd, operates on the corner of a busy street. One day he sees a new hairdresser open up across the street. He at first isn’t worried and welcomes the happy competition. After a few weeks, he sees a sign in front of the new shop that says, “Now offering $6 haircuts.”
This provides a predicament for Todd as many people flock to this deal and he worries about how he can compete with $6 haircuts. He thinks about it all night and wakes up the next morning with a grand idea.
That morning he puts a sign in front of his new shop that says, “We fix $6 haircuts.”
The moral of the story is, prospects do not buy based upon price alone; what they really buy is VALUE and CONFIDENCE- confidence in you and your product.
We actually wrote an article about defining your niche last year that is still very relevant and informative for businesses to implement.
To sum it up, the key is to distinguish yourself from the competition by offering something unique. You can do this by defining your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP.
In this article, I’ll be adding to that list with lessons from salespersons who have successfully distanced themselves from the competition.
A great way to invest in yourself that many of your competitors are not doing is talking to a business coach. We offer a ton of free resources for you to define your niche, grow your business and outhink competitors.
Some of these complimentary resources include our monthly “6 Steps to a Better Business” seminar. We hold these events twice a month around the Indianapolis area. We’d love for you to join us.
I am a certified Business Coach, providing business help, business advice, business coaching and mentoring services to successful and emerging business owners. I have a passion for helping businesses like yours grow and become profitable, so you, the business owner can enjoy the lifestyle you deserve.
As your Business Coach and advisor, I will help you deliver the results you desire using proven tools, methodologies and systems, tested and perfected over tens of thousands of businesses worldwide for over more than two decades. I will hold you accountable for your results and just like a sports coach, push you to perform at optimal levels. Let's schedule a complimentary Business Coaching session to get started.