Business Statistics Assignment
e-Business Plan: Competitor Analysis
Every business has competition and prospective business owners ignore competitors at their peril. Unless a business has an absolute monopoly on a life-essential product, there will be competitors offering alternative and substitute products and services. That level of competition is revealed in the competitor analysis section of your e-business plan.
A competitor analysis is an important requirement in any business plan because it (a) reveals the firm's competitive position in the "marketspace" (on-line marketplace), (b) assists you to develop strategies to be competitive, and (c) investors and other readers of the business plan will expect it. If you ignore or minimize the impact competition will have on your business prospects, then you have an unrealistic business plan.
After giving some background about the type of competitors your business will face this lesson helps you identify and analyze your major competitors -- those most likely to impact on the success of your business. The analysis uses a variation of SWOT, a popular strategic planning tool, to help you identify strengths and weaknesses of competitors, and then opportunities and threats for your business. The lesson concludes with a statement of your company's sources of competitive advantage in the e-commerce marketplace.
The lesson outline is:
Who is Your Competition?
--Identifying your competitors
--Finding your competitors
Analyzing Your Competition
--Creating a competitor analysis grid
--Writing up the results of your analysis
--Web site critiques
Defining Your Competitive Position
Who is Your Competition?
Identifying your competitors: The first step in conducting a competitor analysis is to identify your competitors. Begin this process by considering the range of competition in your marketspace because not all competition is the same, there are different types of competitors your business will face.
Direct competitors are businesses that are
Every business has competition and prospective business owners ignore competitors at their peril. Unless a business has an absolute monopoly on a life-essential product, there will be competitors offering alternative and substitute products and services. That level of competition is revealed in the competitor analysis section of your e-business plan.
A competitor analysis is an important requirement in any business plan because it (a) reveals the firm's competitive position in the "marketspace" (on-line marketplace), (b) assists you to develop strategies to be competitive, and (c) investors and other readers of the business plan will expect it. If you ignore or minimize the impact competition will have on your business prospects, then you have an unrealistic business plan.
After giving some background about the type of competitors your business will face this lesson helps you identify and analyze your major competitors -- those most likely to impact on the success of your business. The analysis uses a variation of SWOT, a popular strategic planning tool, to help you identify strengths and weaknesses of competitors, and then opportunities and threats for your business. The lesson concludes with a statement of your company's sources of competitive advantage in the e-commerce marketplace.
The lesson outline is:
Who is Your Competition?
--Identifying your competitors
--Finding your competitors
Analyzing Your Competition
--Creating a competitor analysis grid
--Writing up the results of your analysis
--Web site critiques
Defining Your Competitive Position
Who is Your Competition?
Identifying your competitors: The first step in conducting a competitor analysis is to identify your competitors. Begin this process by considering the range of competition in your marketspace because not all competition is the same, there are different types of competitors your business will face.
Direct competitors are businesses that are