The Agile Startup: Quick and Dirty Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know

Make a Competitive Matrix

When it comes to starting a new business, you can’t overlook the competition. You have to know who you’re competing against, and how you’re going to beat them in at least one segment of the market. A common mistake is to underestimate the competition, particularly when it comes to new markets and innovative products. Naïve is the entrepreneur who denies having any competition. Whether direct competitors or indirect substitutes, you always have competition. And every competitor has features and offerings that appeal to different customer segments in different ways. The easiest way to visualize all this information is to create a competitive matrix that captures the companies/products along one axis and the features/benefits along the other. In the boxes of the table you use checkmarks or X marks to denote whether a competitor has a feature. If you want to add more detail, you can also write text in the box. The point of the matrix is to quickly summarize who you’re competing against, what features or benefits they offer, and your competitive advantage. A matrix will help you highlight how your product is different and why it matters to the customer.

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