Competition. We know it makes us better, but that
doesn’t make us hate it any less. This past week in class we learned how to
make a petal diagram to analyze our competition and show it to VC’s. When I
started making mine, it led me down a rabbit hole of angry internet searches,
frustrated to find that my niche market had a direct competitor founded in 2014.
I’m in the idea stage with my social venture Redemption
House Designs (RHD). RHD hires the formerly incarcerated to work on all aspects
of this unique and high quality t-shirt company from designing to marketing. So
it was much to my chagrin when I discovered a San Francisco company doing
something similar. People and Us Weekly gave them a shout out; Gwyneth
Paltrow mentioned them on Goop. I
even discovered that two Pittsburgh boutiques in Shadyside sell their goods.
Yet, as we learned in class, you don’t have to be first, you just have to be
best.
Acton writes about how she dealt with discovering
a direct competitor for her company, Never Liked It Anyway. “I saw it as a
mandate to define my point of difference,” she writes. It’s true. The discovery
of my San Fran competitor forced me to go back into my concept document and get
specific, particularly about my target market. I did this by writing a few personas
of both people that would buy my products and people that would benefit from
working at RHD. It helped me to see that my customer and my competitor’s customer
were two different people who wouldn’t buy the same shirts or shop in the same
stores.
Another great point made in the article is that
direct competition is not the only competition. Acton brings up Listerine as an
example. The company did not just see other bathroom cabinet items as
competition. Listerine also looked at breath mints and candy as competition,
forcing innovation, and causing the creation of Listerine PocketPaks. I started
thinking about my product (shirts designed by the formerly incarcerated) in
different contexts. I am currently positioning myself in the clothing space but
could also be in the lifestyle brand or art space. Even if the secondary
markets are a stretch, fleshing out how your venture could play a part there
will force you to think outside of the box and get some new ideas.
This also inspired me to think about competition
in a different way. In the social sector, we’re competing for much of the same funding, no matter how different our social ventures may seem. A dog
rescue organization, a theater program for underserved youth, and a business employing
the formerly incarcerated (like mine) could all be fighting for the same
customers and funders. While at first glance these groups may not seem to have
much in common, they are all doing social good, the money for which shares the
same space in consumer and investor wallets. Purchasing from or providing funding for any of
these organizations may satisfy the same need for a consumer, foundation manager, or investor—doing good. This is why it’s important to think outside of the box
when it comes to your venture’s competition. Why should someone invest in your
company instead of, for example, the dog rescue or children’s theater? What
makes your venture that much better for society? Who are your indirect competitors?
[1]
Acton, Annabel. "That's My Idea! How to Deal With Competition as an
Entrepreneur." TheMuse. 05 May 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
<https://www.themuse.com/advice/thats-my-idea-how-to-deal-with-competition-as-an-entrepreneur>.
No comments:
Post a Comment