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Study as much of your competition as possible. Doing this will result in three major Topics:
1. The competitions Positive qualities.
2. The competitions Negative qualities.
3. The competitions Missing qualities.
Print copies of page 1 and 2 of this document for each business you want to study.
To fill in the blanks you will need data from the competition. You may have your own way do this or you can use some of the following tips: •You may want to visit each of your competition, or have someone that understands your business that you can trust to go to each of the business.
- Study their advertising
- Study their customer base
- Buy their products
- Use their services
Go online and do a survey. You can sign up for a free account at www.deja.com . Find a newsgroup that relates to your business. You can ask for feedback about a business.
You must make your questions interesting and remember never to make a commercial pitch. The majority of people that post and read Newsgroups do not like commercial messages. •Do a telephone survey.
Step One - Create data sheets for your competition
Create a separate sheet, for each of your competitors. Use the following questions or use your own.
Business Name: _______________________________________________
1. What do you like about this business?
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2. How is their service?
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3. How is their appearance?
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4. What do they do right?
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5. What do they do wrong?
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6. What do you notice that is positive about that business?
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7. What do you notice that is negative about that business?
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8. What do notice that is missing in their business?
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You're Own Question
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You're Own Question
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You're Own Question
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You're Own Question
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You're Own Question
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Step Two - Analyzing Your competition.
Gather together all the question sheets you created for each business.
Take the time to study the sheets using the following tips: Step One:
Create a sheet called Industry research
1. List all Positive qualities that all the businesses you researched have in common.
2. List all Negative qualities that all the businesses you researched have in common.
3. List all Missing qualities that all the businesses you researched have in common.
Step Two:
Analyze the Industry research sheet you created.
Similar qualities in the positive section indicate this is that industry standard, because most businesses have adapted this quality.
1. Is your business up to the industry standard?
2. How can you make your business better than the industry standard?
3. What do you need to make you business better than the industry standard?
Similar qualities in the negative section indicate a great opportunity for you, because there is room for improvement in this quality.
1. Does your business also possess negative qualities? 2. What can you do in your business to reduce the negative qualities?
3. Can you find a solution to eliminate the negative qualities and use this to your advantage?
Similar qualities in found in the missing section is your opportunity to implement a trait that other businesses don't possess.
1. How can you implement the missing qualities in order to benefit your business to the greatest extent?
: Table of contents
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