How to Succeed Against Large Competitors in Your Market - Change The Market
So you're running a small hardware store in your local small town.
You aren't getting rich but you're getting by.
And then Walmart shows up.
Or you're a small computer shop.
You sell a little.
You service a little.
You aren't hurting but you're also not about to buy your local bank.
And then Best Buy moves in next door.
Or you're in one of a hundred other markets and a mega-corporation decides your market is their next goldmine.
Has this happened to you? If not yet, will it soon? Chances are either you have a large competitor in your market already or you can anticipate the entry of one soon.
So how do you survive when faced with a competitor that can out market you, outspend you and outlast you? In a previous article, I suggested that you have three strengths to exploit - speed, technology and relationships.
But going head-to-head with your typical mega-corp isn't necessarily the smartest way to get ahead.
The best way to compete with your typical mega-corp is don't! In this article, I'm going to give you five ways to succeed against large competitors in your market by not competing with them.
The central theme in most of the options I am going to suggest is the search for blue waters.
That is a market that hasn't been developed yet.
That there is no competition in.
A market that allows you to develop ownership of, before anyone else discovers it.
The core for this search is that you need to know the value proposition for yourself, your competition and your target customer.
What is the value proposition? It's basically those characteristics that you (or your competition) delivers and that the target customer values.
It's why your customer buys.
And it's why they buy from you and not your competition (or vice versa).
So what is the exception to this theme? Why not consider partnering rather than competing? Many mega-corporations are well aware of their own limitations.
Often they are willing to compete through partnerships with smaller firms.
On second thought, that may also mean you need to revise your value proposition in order to attract partnerships.
What are the other options if you (or they) aren't open to partnering? You can change the rules.
Switch your focus to what the customer values but the competition can't or won't deliver.
You can change markets.
When you try to sell a product or service, you are competing against people that sell similar products or services.
But you're also competing against alternatives -- if they exist.
By looking at the people who buy neither your nor your competitions products and services, you may be able to identify a new market without competition.
Look for value inefficiencies.
Over time, we all add value to our product or service.
It's what drives innovation and improvement.
Unfortunately, sometimes we add what we think is value that isn't as far as our customer is concerned.
By eliminating those costs and focusing on those items the customer actually values, we may be able to identify a game changing innovation.
Finally, you can focus on a niche within your market.
While we may have started with a specific target customer in mind, over time we most likely have gathered other customers.
And time changes things.
Our actual customer base may consist of many different targets.
By examining our market, we may be able to identify specific groups of customers.
If we can then adjust our value proposition to more closely align with their desires we may be able to gain sufficient market advantage to compete successfully even after losing our original market.
You aren't getting rich but you're getting by.
And then Walmart shows up.
Or you're a small computer shop.
You sell a little.
You service a little.
You aren't hurting but you're also not about to buy your local bank.
And then Best Buy moves in next door.
Or you're in one of a hundred other markets and a mega-corporation decides your market is their next goldmine.
Has this happened to you? If not yet, will it soon? Chances are either you have a large competitor in your market already or you can anticipate the entry of one soon.
So how do you survive when faced with a competitor that can out market you, outspend you and outlast you? In a previous article, I suggested that you have three strengths to exploit - speed, technology and relationships.
But going head-to-head with your typical mega-corp isn't necessarily the smartest way to get ahead.
The best way to compete with your typical mega-corp is don't! In this article, I'm going to give you five ways to succeed against large competitors in your market by not competing with them.
The central theme in most of the options I am going to suggest is the search for blue waters.
That is a market that hasn't been developed yet.
That there is no competition in.
A market that allows you to develop ownership of, before anyone else discovers it.
The core for this search is that you need to know the value proposition for yourself, your competition and your target customer.
What is the value proposition? It's basically those characteristics that you (or your competition) delivers and that the target customer values.
It's why your customer buys.
And it's why they buy from you and not your competition (or vice versa).
So what is the exception to this theme? Why not consider partnering rather than competing? Many mega-corporations are well aware of their own limitations.
Often they are willing to compete through partnerships with smaller firms.
On second thought, that may also mean you need to revise your value proposition in order to attract partnerships.
What are the other options if you (or they) aren't open to partnering? You can change the rules.
Switch your focus to what the customer values but the competition can't or won't deliver.
You can change markets.
When you try to sell a product or service, you are competing against people that sell similar products or services.
But you're also competing against alternatives -- if they exist.
By looking at the people who buy neither your nor your competitions products and services, you may be able to identify a new market without competition.
Look for value inefficiencies.
Over time, we all add value to our product or service.
It's what drives innovation and improvement.
Unfortunately, sometimes we add what we think is value that isn't as far as our customer is concerned.
By eliminating those costs and focusing on those items the customer actually values, we may be able to identify a game changing innovation.
Finally, you can focus on a niche within your market.
While we may have started with a specific target customer in mind, over time we most likely have gathered other customers.
And time changes things.
Our actual customer base may consist of many different targets.
By examining our market, we may be able to identify specific groups of customers.
If we can then adjust our value proposition to more closely align with their desires we may be able to gain sufficient market advantage to compete successfully even after losing our original market.