The task is, not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about which everybody sees.

Your small business is faced with a financially strong competitor, they can influence market prices as they see fit, and they have the latest technology on their side. What do you do?

How The Best Small Businesses Deal With Competition (And You Should Too)

Competitive advantage refers to factors that allow your companies to produce goods or services better or more cheaply than your rivals. These factors mean that you continue to generate more sales or make superior profits compared to market rivals. As a small business owner, you can find, develop, and embrace your competitive advantage by:<ol><li>Knowing your competitors</li><li>Knowing your customers</li><li>Identifying your unique selling point</li><li>Serving your customers and earning their trust</li></ol>

Understand Competitive Advantage

Find out who your competition is, what they have that you don’t and what you have that they don’t. The answers you get will form a major part of your competitive strategy.Nokia relaunched its 3310 handsets in 2017, knowing fully well that it cannot compete with the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy A5, A7, or the iPhone X, it focused instead on something that it has; affordability, low specs and history.Nokia leaned into its history to create a feeling of nostalgia for people who used earlier versions of the phone.The 3310 Series remains one of the biggest selling mobiles of all time.

1. Knowing Your Competition

Many customer research based on competitive advantage would usually focus on:<ul><li>Pricing higher/lower</li><li>Improving quality</li><li>Shifting market focus</li><li>or Increasing advertising efforts</li></ul>No doubt all these are good points but their focus is on the obvious & predictable. Nokia’s relaunch of the 3310 rode on the feeling of nostalgia that it provided customers.Over-the-surface customer research would ignore nostalgia, but as a small business owner, if you can influence customer bias by keying into something they already like, you get a fighting chance against these heavily funded corporations.

2. Knowing Your Customers

Just ask yourself: What is the one thing I do better than anyone else?As an entrepreneur, it is important that you have something that your customers can’t get anywhere else.<ul><li>This is why Disney removed star wars and all its other franchises from Netflix.</li><li>This is why Elon musk is so proud of his tesla batteries.</li></ul>There is a unique selling point in every market no matter who your competitor is. Find yours.

3. Identifying Your Unique Selling Point

As a small business owner having loyal customers ensures that the threat of competitors would be unable to shake your profits.

4. Serving  Your Customers and Earning Their Trust

simple strategies to help small business fight competitors.

Your small business is faced with a financially strong competitor, they can influence market prices as they see fit, and they have the latest technology on their side.  What do you do? Imagine a phone with no social media; no internet and no applications trying to compete in a market where iPhones exist. A company…