Since no two businesses are truly alike, it’s important to identify exactly what makes your business unique, so you can showcase it most effectively to your audience.

Phone them to ask for a copy of their brochure or get one of your staff or a friend to drop by and pick up their marketing literature.. You could ask for a price list or enquire what an off-the-shelf item might cost and if there's a discount for volume.

After brainstorming and making a list of your business’s competitive differentiators, make sure to weave them into your company message, company culture, and small business marketing strategies.

The company also designs its business model around the needs of military members. ... Five Ways to Make Your Company More Innovative. But what if all of your programmers hold PhDs in Computer Science? Understanding where your competitors are positioned is key to identifying the gaps that your business can fill. Many business owners or would-be start-ups sit around trying to figure out how they can be better than the competition – better product, better service, better features, and, the real killer, better price. It’s about attracting the right people to your business. So it’s tough to make that stick as a differentiator. But the third reason Apple is set apart from their competitors … Market research can prepare you for changing markets and prevent your business being left behind by the competition. This difference of the way Apple runs their company compared to competitors can’t be emphasized enough.

Hiring a great team is important on many levels. Highly successful businesses, products or personal brands make tough choices about what they can own.

HBS faculty experts in culture, customers, creativity, marketing, and the DNA of innovators offer ideas. Kristen McCormick Kristen is the Content Marketing Manager for ThriveHive, where she geeks out daily over SEO, organic traffic, and A/B testing. Or perhaps all your project managers are PMPs. Everyone feels like they have a great team. Conduct market research. Leverage your team to make your business stand out from the crowd Networking. It identifies what makes your business the better choice, and why your target clients should choose you over the competition. Stop simply trying to be better than the competition and start figuring out how you can be better and different than your competition.

How do you create a company that unleashes and capitalizes on innovation? As the name suggests, competitive differentiators are specific things that make your company different from your competitors. That is both provable and meaningful to a potential client. That is why all they do works together so seamlessly.

Speak to your competitors.

If your target audience can’t tell immediately what you do, what you stand for, and how you are different from your competitors, your brand is destined for mediocrity. A unique selling proposition (USP), or a unique selling position, is a statement that succinctly outlines how your business, product, or service is different from that of your competition.

Standing out from your competition isn’t necessarily about snatching up all of the business. Market research involves collecting and analysing information about your market, including your customers and competitors. Indirect Competition Indirect competitors are businesses that offer slightly different products and services, but target the same group of customers with the goal of satisfying the same need.

All of your staff shares a specific characteristic or credential.

And it gives them a big edge over the competition because of that. Find out who your competitors are, and then keep an eye on them so you can better serve your clients, refine your business, and better serve your industry in general. One quarter of its new hires either served in the military or come from a military family.

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Growing your business without understanding your competitors is risky. Obviously they’re there to help your business grow, but a team that’s proud to work for your company and proactively spreads positive things about your business via their online channels is a huge bonus.

6. Hearing about your competitors.