Currently, your competition is plotting to take over your clientele and service area. Maybe it is an old employee that thinks he could provide a better service. Perhaps your competition is a younger version of you that is eager to stake out his new camp and service area in your backyard.
In any case, in this day in age, nobody is happy settling for a salary as a worker bee. Everyone wants to be the boss. Is the American Dream feeding this ambition? Or is simply just human nature? In any case, the dream is the same for all, whether you are an established American citizen, or an immigrants from any foreign country, we all want a piece of the pie! The result is that new companies are popping up every day!
Speaking from the perspective of small web design company and advertising agency operating in a suburb of Chicago, we have observed that this trend is true across many industries including but not limited to: home remodeling companies, painting companies and even web design companies.
There are many reasons why there is more competition in America’s small business landscape than ever before. While each industry has different reasons, it may be worth examining these reasons, as it may offer insight into knowing what you are up against.
Below is a list of the 5 top reasons your competition is growing, listed in count down format:
4) Your competition is growing because your business offers a widely used product or service that is needed in your area, or is viewed as a “trending” trade which is thought to be profitable.
3) Your competition is growing because of a global market, and/or immigrated labor may be willing to work for cheaper, or cheap foreign sub-contractors (true for web development industry).
The key takeaway from this list, is to realize that many of the aforementioned items may be trends that will not end. It will only get worse. Therefore, it is important to identify your weakness or vulnerability and devise a plan to stay ahead of this constantly growing pool of competition.
How to Combat Your Growing List of Competitors
There are several ways to stay ahead of the competition:
- Focus on customer experience and satisfaction. Take a different approach to how you deliver products or services, provide exceptional customer service, and continuously innovate and improve.
- Target a specific niche or segment of the market where it’s easier to differentiate yourself from the competition.
- Invest in marketing and advertising to promote your brand and build customer loyalty.
- Take advantage of pricing strategies such as discounts, coupons, or loyalty programs to give customers an incentive to choose you over the competition.
- Utilize online marketing tactics like search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, and social media campaigns to reach out to potential customers.
- Monitor the competition and stay ahead of the curve with new products or services.
- Listen to customer feedback to identify areas for improvement and drive customer satisfaction.
- Leverage data analytics to understand customer trends and market conditions, and use the insights gained to optimize operations and marketing efforts.
- Establish a clear set of values that your company stands by and use them as the foundation for customer service and business decisions.
- Offer a clear pricing structure that is easy to understand and communicate it effectively to customers.
- Use data to develop targeted promotions and discounts that are attractive to different customer segments.
- Look in the mirror and see how you are currently promoting your business and services. Review your website and existing marketing strategies to make sure they are effective and producing maximum results.
In closing, while understanding all that is required to stay competitive is important, you must also realize that you can not do it all yourself. You should consider hiring a website design and marketing professional ,or company that can help you ensure that your website is properly configured and optimized to be visible by search engines. A good marketing company will help you review and rewrite your website content and marketing material to ensure that it is inline with what your customers are entering into search engines.
