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What are you up against? Your investors will
want to know.
How do you stack up to your competition
? If you are entering an existing market, you will have competition. Who
are they and how do they sell their product or service? How
much do they charge? These questions shouldn't bother you if you've done
the proper analysis and have a plan to handle the competition.
Video Competition
We had competition when we opened our video store.
Sure, most of them were twenty minutes away but two of them were right in
town, within five minutes. We knew that most video stores had video clubs
and club rental rates and non-club rates. We also knew that the two stores
locally were just dabbling in video; it wasn't their main business.
We decided to establish a first class, top run
movie store. All of our "titles" were classic or brand new and well
reviewed videos. That made us more attractive than the part-time stores.
In addition, in order to attract customers from the local and further away
store, we accepted any other club memberships and charged their customers
our 'club rate' We knew that we could impress them away from the
competition......it worked we grew from 200 titles to over 3000 in eight
years.
What’s your
Competitive Plan
How much of the market do you expect to attract?
Depending on the scope of your market and the geographic and demographic
profiles that govern your product or service, Do you expect to capture
enough business to make your business profitable?
This is a critical point in your analysis. Every
facet of revenues, costs, logistical requirements, warehousing, shipping
etc. and especially, the MONEY requirements depend upon your estimation of
your share of the market in which you are operating.
Our Plan
We offered our honorary club membership until
their membership expired at our competitors’ store. We knew that our
quality collection and our great customer service and friendly store
atmosphere would bring their business back to us. Then we would collect a
membership fee for the following year. Our capture rate was close to
99%.
Market Share
This is what you expect from your customers.
Demand is the total number of widgets or services that the
public will buy. Your share of this large market is the basis for
the cost of goods, raw materials, manufacture, marketing and sales
programs, packaging, shipping and distribution, office equipment,
personnel needs and ...and the MONEY requirements of your new company.
What is your targeted share?
One of my clients told me she wanted to
capture 100%. I admired her ambition. She might just do it, but her whole
plan will depend upon her tenacity to that desire.
If you are confused or have questions,
Call Me!
My first session
is FREE!
RJS
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