Читать книгу Small Business for Dummies - Veechi Curtis - Страница 39

How can your business beat the competition, and what benefits can you provide that the competition can’t? Here are some ways that your business may be able to secure a strategic advantage against others in the same industry:

  Added value: Can you offer added value in comparison to your competitors? Think 24-hour delivery, locally sourced product, a mobile service, or a quality of product or service that’s beyond industry norms.

 Exclusive distribution rights: Do you have exclusive distribution rights to a sought-after product or service?

 First cab off the rank: Do you have a new idea that nobody else has tried before? Or a new way of doing something that makes the product or service better, quicker or cheaper?

 Intellectual property: Do you have unique intellectual property (IP) that customers want and that’s hard to copy? IP includes copyright, patents and trademarks. If you’re just getting started with your business, your IP could be as simple as a clever business name, an eye-catching logo or a well-chosen domain name (that is, a web address).

 Location: If you’re a retailer, do you have a great location in a central shopping area? (Location is often the prime strategic advantage for retailers.) Or are you the only business providing a service in a particular suburb or region? Are the demographics of your location ideally matched to your business, or are you located in a central spot for freight and transport?

 Lower costs: Do you have an innovative way of doing things that reduces costs, creates economies of scale or significantly improves business processes?

 Obsession and drive: Do you have exceptional vision or drive? Is this drive connected with a particular obsession? (For example, think of Steve Jobs and his obsession about design.)

 Perfectly matched team: If you’re in a business partnership of some kind, do you have a unique combination of skills and do you work well together as a team? (The synergy created by two or more people who have complementary skills and who work well together can be a force to be reckoned with, and something that’s hard for competition to copy.)

 Specialist skills: Are you a specialist who has an insight into a particular industry that nobody else is likely to have? Maybe you can see a gap in the industry that nobody else is catering to, or maybe you can see a way to do something better.

Think of a business that you know that has been really successful (maybe a local business or a friend’s business, or even a big name such as The Body Shop, McDonald’s or Microsoft). Go through the list of different strategic advantages and think about which of these advantages could apply to these businesses.