Saniton Plastic Corporation | Find your Business competition?

1. Saniton Plastic Corporation Find your Business competition?

2. Session objectives • Collect information about your competitors • Research and analyze your competition • Identify direct and indirect competitors • List your product/service features and benefits • Define your business’s unique value proposition

3. The Market Share Pie

4. Goal: find your competition • Who else is selling my product or service in this industry? • What makes my business different? How will my business stand out (be different) from the competition?

5. Why learn about your competitors? • Knowing where your business is strong, and the other company is weak, can help you stand out in the industry. • Knowing where your competitor is strong, and you are weaker, can help you learn and improve the way you do business.

6. Types of competitors • Direct competitors: businesses that offer similar products/services to yours. They are the most risky, and should be central to your research. • Indirect competitors: offer alternative products/services to yours. They may surprise you one day with a competing product! • Phantom competitors: forces outside your control that can have a big effect on business

7. Where to find information • Company websites and search engines • Social networks • Visit your competitors • Google alerts • Ask your customers…and ask them again! • Survey existing or potential customers • Conferences & trade shows • Better Business Bureau

8. Where to look • Local market focus: may want to look at competitors within 50 km, if a restaurant, that might be a smaller area (15-20 km); • If in a bigger market (e.g. Manitoba) will need to look more broadly throughout the Province, and potentially to neighbouring provinces • Online: who else is selling online? Where do they show up in search rankings (e.g. Google)

9. Information on your competitors • Company details • Target market • Strengths/weaknesses • Products/services • Price • Added benefits • How do they reach customers? • Features & benefits • Unique value

10. About competitors • The amount of information you can find may be different for each competitor. • Don’t be discouraged if you can’t find all the information you need for every competitor. • Do check several of the potential sources just covered.

11. Features & benefits • What is a product/service feature? • What is a product/service benefit?

12. Features and benefits: definition • Feature: what your product or service is or does. Least effective in selling. • A benefit explains what features mean and why they are important. Benefits tell yourcustomers how your product or service features will solve their problems.

13. Is it a feature or benefit? • 10 megapixel camera • Camera that shoots clear pictures, even in action shots • Gluten-free pizza • Safe pizza for celiac customers • Lightweight vacuum cleaner • Vacuum that is easy to carry up stairs

14. All-Natural Doggie Treats

15. Unique Value Proposition • A promise of unique benefits that your product/services offers to your customers. • A few sentences long, includes your product features/benefits, and can apply to your entire business, or individual products or services. • A UVP answers 2 questions: • How can your product/service solve my problem? • Why should I buy from you and not someone else?

16. Unique Value Proposition Your UVP can be used to communicate your product/service’s value to: • Customers • Investors/lenders • Potential partners • Employees • Suppliers

17. UVP Formula • For (target customers) • Our product/service is a (details about product/service) • That provides (key problems that the product or service solves for the customer) • Unlike (another product/service)

18. Thank You