If you run a business, then your primary aim should be to create an unfair advantage in your market. The greater the gap between you and your competitors, the easier it will be for you to close clients, increase your market share and improve the predictability of your business model.
No one wants to be fighting for scraps on the sidelines, which is why you need to strive to dominate your market as much as possible. After all, the business world mirrors the ‘real’ world in many ways. Just as you would prefer to have a safe job that gives you consistent income and a secure environment to thrive in, so will your company do better when it doesn’t have to be constantly fire-fighting, clawing for survival rather than thinking long term.
Of course, dominating your market is easier said than done. Every entrepreneur would jump at the chance to run the number one firm in their sector, but it doesn’t happen by chance.
You have to make specific strategic decisions that will enable your company to outcompete your rivals and stand head and shoulders above them in the marketplace.
To help you to dominate your marketplace, here are six key tips to keep in mind:
- Nail your marketing
It is perhaps an obvious point to make, but you need to make sure that you position your business perfectly in the industry you’re operating in. This means that you need to nail your marketing strategy.
Start by researching your ideal customers because this is where all your best ideas will stem from. Learn to understand their pain points deeply and to speak their language. Get to know what jobs they tend to do, where they live, what cars they drive, and what outlook on life they have. Most of all, work out where they hang out online. This piece of information is crucial yet widely overlooked by marketers. You need to know how to get your brand in front of them, so see which websites or social media platforms they usually use and market to them there.
- Find and finalize your brand identity
You must make sure that your brand identity is on point. This includes creating a distinctive brand that sticks out from all the noise and copycat businesses in your market. Details to work on include designing your website, establishing an engaging tone of voice on social media, and, of course, creating your logo or sign. Thankfully, you can pick up sign design basics relatively easily. Before you know it, you will have a captivating sign that helps your business attract the attention of customers.
- Solve a problem that no one else is
If you truly want to dominate your marketplace, then you need to solve a particular burning problem for your customers that no one else is either solving or cannot solve as well as you can. This is another element of successful entrepreneurship that many business owners overlook. It is not good enough to merely provide a product or service – you need to be absolving your customers of pain.
Look at all market dominators, and you will notice that they do this. Of course, pain doesn’t need to be physical – it could be the minor pain of going without a good haircut or a strong enough coffee – but make sure that, in some way, you are providing what your competitors cannot.
- Craft a great offer
Another element that you need to be aware of if you want to take your marketplace by storm is to craft a truly great offer. It is often said that an offer does the most leverage in business, and for good reason. It is your offer that compels them to buy from you, sparks their imagination, and encourages them to tell their friends and family about your business.
Find a way of creating a superior offer to your competitors, and you will find it infinitely easier to land a sea of clients.
- Hire the best employees
Of course, the best companies also employ the best members of staff. You can only reach a certain point with yourself and an average team – at some point, you are going to need to hire ‘A’ players if you are going to get to the top. This might mean increasing your typical salary and employee benefits to entice the best talent to work for you, but as long as you nurture them correctly, they are bound to take your business to the next level.
- Attack the weaknesses of your competitors
Finally, you need to attack the weaknesses of your competitors viciously. There is no real way of outgunning the strengths of your rivals if they are established and have large budgets. It is just a way of making your business look derivative and lacking in ideas. Instead, find out where your competitors are lacking, and focus all your attention on that.
