Dealing With Industry Rivals: How to Get a Competitive Edge

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Unless you're operating in a totally new industry, you probably have at least one significant industry rival – a close competitor who mirrors you in terms of products, brand, and target audience. How do you deal with these entities contesting your territory? And how can you get a competitive edge over them?

Protect Your Intellectual Property

First, you need to protect your intellectual property. Your competitors may have similar products to yours, but you're entitled to the fruits of your own intellectual property holdings. File the appropriate paperwork and get access to copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets as necessary, and take proper precautions so this sensitive information isn't leaked or stolen.

If you’re concerned about your intellectual property being compromised or infringed upon, it’s a good idea to hire a lawyer and an expert witness. Together, these experts can help you identify competitors who are inappropriately using your intellectual property and devise a strategy for how to take legal action.

Know Your Enemy

Before you can orchestrate an approach for dealing with your biggest industry rivals, you need to understand those rivals inside and out. Who are your top competitors? How are they competing with you? What makes them attractive to your shared target customers?

Most importantly, what are their biggest strengths and weaknesses? You may not be able to compete with them directly in their areas of greatest strength, but you might be able to find alternative ways to undermine or work around them. You can also make a concentrated effort to surpass your rivals in their areas of weakness, since these represent easily accessible opportunities.

Find a Way to Differentiate Your Brand (and Products)

If you want to compete, you need to find some way to stand out. In other words, you need to differentiate your brand and/or its products if you want to be successful.

· Target audience. One of the easiest ways to differentiate your brand or product is to target a different audience altogether. If you can find a different demographic segment to target, you can avoid your competitors almost entirely and secure a small sector of the market that's currently untouched. Obviously, this isn't always possible, but it's worth searching for, just in case.

· Price. As you might expect, most customers prefer the lowest-cost option, with all factors being equal. If you can offer products of similar quality and effectiveness for a lower price, customers are naturally going to choose you. This may require slashing your margins, and it may not even be possible, but again, it's worth considering.

· Quality. If you can't beat your rivals on price, consider trying to beat them on quality. If your products are made with better components, if they last longer, or if they're more reliable or effective, many customers will be more than willing to pay extra for them. You may need to double down on research and development to achieve this, however.

· Service. An alternative way to differentiate your brand is to provide superior service. Communicate and engage with your customers regularly, and work proactively to prevent and fix issues whenever they arise. Many customers would be happy to pay more if it means getting access to better customer service.

· Personality/tone. You can help your brand stand out by adopting a different brand personality or tone, especially if it's exciting or particularly relevant to your target audience. Just make sure to follow what your customers want.

· Ethics/sustainability. Consumers do care about sustainability and business ethics. Depending on your niche, you might be able to differentiate yourself by pursuing more energy-efficient practices or more sustainable supply chain management.

· Marketing. There are countless ways you can differentiate your brand and its products through marketing and advertising. You can pursue different types of channels, different messaging strategies, and different methods of securing conversions. With enough creativity, your brand can become unforgettable – and highly desired by your most important customers.

Forecast Trends

It's also a good idea to forecast trends, to whatever extent you are able. Study consumer trends, collect data in the form of surveys, and try to figure out what your competitors are going to do next. The more you can learn about the future, the more you can respond to it and position your business effectively for the years to come.

Keep Watch

Never let off the gas pedal. It's important for you to keep a close eye on your competitors as well as their customers indefinitely. Even if you have a competitive edge right now, that doesn't mean you'll be able to retain it forever.

Industry rivals can be tough to deal with, especially if you're not used to engaging in a highly competitive market. But with the right differentiation strategies and ample commitment to achieving market dominance, you can become the top player in your niche.