Lessons
Class Introduction & Market Research
15:30 2Who Are Your Competitors?
03:32 3Types of Business Structures
09:17 4Deciding on a Business Name & Determining Start-Up Costs
05:24 5Developing an Operating Agreement & Profit Model
03:43 6Constructing a Business Plan
06:46 7Business Q&A
19:02Lesson Info
Who Are Your Competitors?
Who are your competitors? I think it's really important for you to determine your competitors because it, you just need to know who is out there and it really makes sense for you to not just know who your competitors are, but know their strengths, their weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Some of this may be very old news to some of you and maybe it's new news, but one of the things that was really important for us and myself whenever I embarked into business was to do a SWAT analysis on not only myself but also, myself as a business, but also my competitors. On your worksheet, I did include in the last, on the last page, a SWAT analysis. I really encourage you to print that out several times or do it digitally online for your competitors. List them out. It's important for you to, again, know who they are. Here's the first slide here which talks about strengths. Your competitor, you want to ask questions like, what does their business do well? What is the differentiating resource t...
hat your business, that their business provides? What do others see as that particular business's strengths? Again, it takes time. It's something that you're going to have to dedicate, before you even go live with your own business, go around and go to your competitors and ask them if they're willing to do that. I actually went to some of my competitors and I asked them certain questions like this. Of course, you can find this information online too, but it's just important to understand what they are doing well because your competitor isn't, they're doing things well. Either you're going to enter in a line with them or you're going to be better than them. Hopefully better than them. The next here are opportunities, so the questions that you can ask are what areas in the market are they open to, are open to them? What trends can they leverage or you leverage? How can you or they turn their strengths into opportunities? Those are questions that you can try to uncover and identify. Next here for weaknesses. This is basically being honest with yourself and figuring out what you know you're not doing well or what the competitors are not doing well. What resource in your business is lacking? What do others see as your business's weaknesses? Examples of weaknesses could be what's trending right now, which is diversity. Is your business as diverse as it could be? It's okay that that is a weakness, but now you've gotta channel that and say, how can I make my business more diverse? These are just some questions that you can ask yourself during a SWAT analysis. Then, threats. Basically, what are the disadvantages that could harm your business? What need is your competition fulfilling that you're not? What threats does your weaknesses subject your business to? How long can you stay flying under the radar? There are a lot of businesses who have fizzled out because they did not want to change with how the economy's changing. There are some businesses who don't have a social media presence and needless to say, they're not garnering as much attention and as much profit as other businesses. What is a threat for you if you are not able to change? Again, a SWAT analysis. It sounds very elementary, but it actually is very beneficial and we did that with our stock photography business and that's why we are doing so well.
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