The FT Essential Guide to Writing a Business Plan, 3rd Edition

Competitive position

First, you need to be clear about how your business stacks up against the competition. In each of your main business segments, how well placed are you? And how is that position likely to change over the next few years?

To answer that you should ideally go through three stages, for each of your main segments:

1. 1Identify and weight customer purchasing criteria (CPCs) – what customers need in each segment from their suppliers, which would be you and your competitors.
2. 2Identify and weight key success factors (KSFs) – what you and your competitors need to do to satisfy those CPCs and run a successful business.
3. 3Assess your competitive position – how you rate against those KSFs relative to your competitors.

Appendix A to this ...