Competition as Inspiration

Take a thoughtful look around

So, last week, I encouraged you to create a Starting Point Sentence for researching your new business, a new product, or a new service. This Starting Point Sentence, even a very basic, non-researched, non-vetted sentence, can serve as an important guide for you as you take that big world out there and narrow it down to what you will truly focus on in your business.

Last week’s post also referred to searching for a new car and the fact that the minute you start to narrow it down, you start seeing that type of car EVERYWHERE (in the physical and the digital, of course). Last week’s post also talked about how creating your SPS is a bit like identifying your new target car in that you’ll start noticing things (that could feed into your research) about your business EVERYWHERE.

And, I also mentioned the conundrum that ‘seeing it EVERYWHERE’ creates. From last week’s post:

“I don’t know about you, but it’s at this point that I wonder whether I should choose a different car or use these frequent sightings as reassurance that the car I’ve got my sights on is a good, dependable model.”

This ‘seeing it everywhere’ can make you start to wonder if you’ve chosen a dependable model (your business niche) or if you should choose a different model (another business niche) because so many people are already driving that model.

You’ll notice here that I’m using the word niche, not Wedge (capital W).

Before you change niches (or car models), just consider that lots of niches are really crowded. Chances are your niche is among them.

BUT, those big, packed niches are full of unique Wedges.

In my view, there are an infinite number of Wedges in any niche. Some (not all) make good businesses.

I can kinda hear what you are thinking…

“How on earth can I find a good business Wedge in a crowded niche?

I’m glad you asked.

Get out that simple, non-researched, non-vetted Starting Point Sentence and let’s keep moving forward. You need more information if you’re going to use it to define your Wedge.

This also happens to be where Step 2 of the Finding Your Wedge process starts to come in.

Step 2 is where you start looking at Inspo-Competitors. It’s a weird word, I know. It’s intended to describe the group of competitors out there in your niche that are also inspirational to you.

In step 2, you start looking in a thoughtful way at the competition in your market.

You may not realize it unless you’ve already done some Step 2 work, but this step can be a challenge because lots of feelings come up. Avoidance might be one. A bit (or a lot) of self-doubt might be another. A bit (or a lot) of envy over the fact that these other businesses are already well into the market. It’s all a lot!

But, you’re here to look at these Inspo-Competitors thoughtfully. By that, I mean that you are considering them, not with an intention to buy, not to ‘oh and ah’ over their cool marketing, and definitely not to increase your stress level.

You are looking at the competitors with a considered eye at their base message and things like the language they use, at the Founder’s experience and story, and at the product set. You are also looking at how they promote themselves. Do they have a blog? Use Instagram? Or LinkedIn? Do they partner with others in the space? How/where do they sell their products?

As you look, you are also considering questions you have that are not being answered. You are considering whether the promotion channels they use make sense for your intended wedge. That’s space.

This space is the piece of the niche that the Inspo-Competitor does not have experience in or is not addressing (and it’s smart for you to figure out why).

Make lots of notes about the spaces you see and the questions you still have as you look thoughtfully at what’s in the market today. Look at several Inspo-Competitors of various sizes and business ages. These spaces may be part of your Wedge. The spaces and questions may be a good match for your own expertise and experience. A-ha!

All of which, leads you into Step 3.

Stay tuned-

Julie