P1: OTA/XYZ P2: ABC
c10 JWBT144/Gordon September 25, 2009 17:42 Printer Name: Courier Westford, Westford, MA
Plan for the War with Your Competitors
all of your competitors, as well as the industry dynamics. That knowledge will
give you insights to pursue your own opportunity in a way that can maximize
your chance of success and profitability. You can absorb your competitors’
best practices.
Is the opportunity you’ve identified in a good or a bad industry? You can
use the checklist in Exhibit 10.1 to find out.
No matter what the nature of your industry, your challenge is to figure out
how you will gain competitive advantage. When the customer has choices,
why would you be the preferred supplier? (see Chapters 15 and 21).
Competitor Sleuthing
The Art of War was written by Sun Tzu, a mysterious Chinese warrior-
philosopher, more than 2,000 years ago.
3
His writings teach us to achieve
victory over our enemies through understanding the opponent’s military lead-
ership, organizational efficiency, vulnerabilities, momentum, strengths, and
many more parameters. This is competitor sleuthing. The more you know
about your competition, the better prepared you will be for the coming never-
ending battle. Knowledge is power!
Begin competitor sleuthing by defining your geographic market. This is the
actual geographic region in which you will compete. Recall Maria’s beading
business from Chapter 5. Her business was going to be local, perhaps within
a 5- to 10-mile commuting distance of Brookline, Massachusetts. Our plastics ...