5 Ways To Beat The Competition When Setting Up An Internet Business
Posted 24th January 2013 at 04:10 AM by NewRiseDigital
Tags business, entrepreneur, internet, marketing, strategies
When you first start setting up an internet business and you start researching the niche you want to get into, many people wonder whether they should be worried about the competition that is established in the market already. There are a few myths about competition, and in this post I hope we can help put your mind at ease over some of the misconceptions about the subject.
When you are researching your niche's market having no compeition out there that is currently active as a business is a very bad sign. The internet has been around a while now and it's unlikely that your business idea is going to be a completely new one. If there is not one single company that is doing business the way you have thought of doing it, this likely signals that there are not enough customers out there to make the idea a profitable business. The way internet businesses work successfully are by finding out what has worked previously for other businesses and adapting the rules for your business. If you cannot find a similar business to yours on the web that has been in existence for at least 3-4 years, then you probably want to stay clear of that niche.
If on the other hand you find healthy competition in the niche you want to serve, and you can find plenty of businesses that are actively serving people with similar products to yours then surprisingly this is a good thing (contrary to popular belief). The prescence of healthy competition in a market indicates that enough people are actively spending money on the products in your niche, and sustainable business models exist that you can study and use to help build your own business. The next question most people will have is 'How can I compete with an established business in my niche' and the answer is to simply be you. There are enough people out there worldwide for you to be able to take your own slice of any market. You are unique and you'll have qualities that connect with some people that other businesses don't have. There are lots of areas of the business where you could serve the clients of your competitors 10% better, and many times that's enough to bring them over to you.
Here are 5 great tips that new Internet businesses can do to help them stay in the race.
1. Give Great Customer Service
The established competition can sometimes get complacent when they get overwhelmed with customers, and forget to have a direct and personal communication with clients. Make sure your communications are as personalised as they can be, and that you keep in touch with your customers on a regular basis. Make sure you are constantly thinking of the future value of the customer too and don't focus just on the money the end user is paying you for each transaction right now. If your product is great, people will want to come back and buy from you again, but only if you keep up the relationship after the purchase. This is something that over 80% of businesses forget to do, so make sure you are in the 20% that don't and you are already ahead.
2. Offer An Extra Surprise
Is there something extra you can add to your product that would surprise the customer? Maybe it's an extra bonus module on your training course, or a set of graphics with your software products, or maybe even a discount on future orders. Mark Twain writes about the word lagniappe in his book Life On The Mississippi, and lagniappe means a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase (like a 13th donut when buying a dozen). With the speed and popularity of social media recommendations you'll find that this is a simple way to get people to spread positive messages about you and your business.
3. Build The Product That Customers Want
Constantly survey your customers, and listen closely to their feedback. Use their requests to drive the products you provide to them. One of the biggest mistakes that the established competition frequently make is to make the product they think the customer needs rather than actually asking them directly what they think the product should be like. You can use tools such as SurveyMonkey, send a survey out to your email list, or even tweet out a question to your Twitter followers. However you do it - ask your potential customers what they want.
4. Work With Great People
Don't let the people helping you build your business let your product down. If you are using outsourced staff or hired help and they are not delivering on time or to standard, make a change. Running an Internet business requires decisive leadership skills and if you have people around you that are supportive and share your passion and vision for the product and customer you'll thrive in spite of competition. When you're starting your internet business you'll be hiring people in to help you on a per job basis, rather than taking on long term employees, and larger companies don't always have the ability to make such quick staff changes when they have a fixed payroll so take advantage of your flexibility as an internet entrepreneur to build the best team that will delight your customers.
5. Just Keep Going
In many niches, you'll be surprised how many people simply give up on their businesses when they hit challenges. When researching your niche, you'll find many abandoned websites and expired domains. Sometimes just keeping going, even when things are tough is all it takes to beat the competition. If you can continue to come up with ideas to serve your customers 10% better than the competition then persistence will keep you in the game.
When you are researching your niche's market having no compeition out there that is currently active as a business is a very bad sign. The internet has been around a while now and it's unlikely that your business idea is going to be a completely new one. If there is not one single company that is doing business the way you have thought of doing it, this likely signals that there are not enough customers out there to make the idea a profitable business. The way internet businesses work successfully are by finding out what has worked previously for other businesses and adapting the rules for your business. If you cannot find a similar business to yours on the web that has been in existence for at least 3-4 years, then you probably want to stay clear of that niche.
If on the other hand you find healthy competition in the niche you want to serve, and you can find plenty of businesses that are actively serving people with similar products to yours then surprisingly this is a good thing (contrary to popular belief). The prescence of healthy competition in a market indicates that enough people are actively spending money on the products in your niche, and sustainable business models exist that you can study and use to help build your own business. The next question most people will have is 'How can I compete with an established business in my niche' and the answer is to simply be you. There are enough people out there worldwide for you to be able to take your own slice of any market. You are unique and you'll have qualities that connect with some people that other businesses don't have. There are lots of areas of the business where you could serve the clients of your competitors 10% better, and many times that's enough to bring them over to you.
Here are 5 great tips that new Internet businesses can do to help them stay in the race.
1. Give Great Customer Service
The established competition can sometimes get complacent when they get overwhelmed with customers, and forget to have a direct and personal communication with clients. Make sure your communications are as personalised as they can be, and that you keep in touch with your customers on a regular basis. Make sure you are constantly thinking of the future value of the customer too and don't focus just on the money the end user is paying you for each transaction right now. If your product is great, people will want to come back and buy from you again, but only if you keep up the relationship after the purchase. This is something that over 80% of businesses forget to do, so make sure you are in the 20% that don't and you are already ahead.
2. Offer An Extra Surprise
Is there something extra you can add to your product that would surprise the customer? Maybe it's an extra bonus module on your training course, or a set of graphics with your software products, or maybe even a discount on future orders. Mark Twain writes about the word lagniappe in his book Life On The Mississippi, and lagniappe means a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase (like a 13th donut when buying a dozen). With the speed and popularity of social media recommendations you'll find that this is a simple way to get people to spread positive messages about you and your business.
3. Build The Product That Customers Want
Constantly survey your customers, and listen closely to their feedback. Use their requests to drive the products you provide to them. One of the biggest mistakes that the established competition frequently make is to make the product they think the customer needs rather than actually asking them directly what they think the product should be like. You can use tools such as SurveyMonkey, send a survey out to your email list, or even tweet out a question to your Twitter followers. However you do it - ask your potential customers what they want.
4. Work With Great People
Don't let the people helping you build your business let your product down. If you are using outsourced staff or hired help and they are not delivering on time or to standard, make a change. Running an Internet business requires decisive leadership skills and if you have people around you that are supportive and share your passion and vision for the product and customer you'll thrive in spite of competition. When you're starting your internet business you'll be hiring people in to help you on a per job basis, rather than taking on long term employees, and larger companies don't always have the ability to make such quick staff changes when they have a fixed payroll so take advantage of your flexibility as an internet entrepreneur to build the best team that will delight your customers.
5. Just Keep Going
In many niches, you'll be surprised how many people simply give up on their businesses when they hit challenges. When researching your niche, you'll find many abandoned websites and expired domains. Sometimes just keeping going, even when things are tough is all it takes to beat the competition. If you can continue to come up with ideas to serve your customers 10% better than the competition then persistence will keep you in the game.
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