Competitive Strategies for Long Term Growth

In a competitive marketplace, a small business needs to prepare to defend and grow its market share and look for strategies that will propel their business forward. Depending upon their current competitive position , there are different strategies available to determine where their companies will stand in relation to their competition. If you are in a leader position, you can attack and go after more market share by taking a look at your products or services and finding a way to improve what you are offering either by upgrading your product, enhancing your service or adding additional value. You can also block new products from entering into the marketplace by cutting your price for the short term or offering a two for one sale as your competitor starts to enter into the market. This move will drive the customers to you and drive your customers to drop their prices in order to compete therefore cutting into their profits. If you are in a follower position you can attack the leader by cutting product price or increasing your distribution channels. This will create stress on the market leader and force them to drive their pricing down to meet your level of offering but chances are, they have built an entire infrastructure around their current prices and driving prices down will eat right into their profits. You can also enter into niche markets that offer large opportunity but may be small enough to be inconsequential to the market leader thereby carving out a very profitable business. Another option is to stand out and be an individual and redefine the market. Think of your customers and create a product that speaks directly to their needs and plays to your strengths. Redefining the market means breaking all the rules and resetting the stage based upon what you want to offer and segmenting the market into small profitable and management chunks. To be strong in a competitive landscape, a business owner must always be thinking about strategy and moving the business forward. To be successful you must always be on top of industry trends, thinking ahead and creating new products and services that appeal to your target audience. Your leadership and employees must be willing to think out of the box and listen to the voice of the customer to create the ultimate customer experience and identify new opportunities for success and improvements. Lastly, you should be looking for ways to systematize and automate your business to streamline your process and set yourself up for future growth.

Kellie D'Andrea is the No Fluff, All Stuff Marketing Coach and the Creator of the BLAST Marketing System. Join her for a FREE virtual Marketing Class every Monday and learn how to attract and retain more customers. Sign Up Here : http://kelliedandrea.com/blog/marketing-mondays/