Competitive enviroment

• A competitor is any business that sells the same or similar products or services.
• Businesses may want to know certain things about their competitors, such as their USP , price , quality , convenience , location , product range and customer service
• Unique selling point (USP) USP stands for ‘unique selling point’
• Having a USP is a strength for a business
• Being situated in a convenient location is likely to be a competitor strength.
• It is usually important for an entrepreneur to make sure they have a varied product range.
• If a competitor's product is very easy to use, it is important for an entrepreneur to try to make their product just as easy to use, otherwise it is unlikely to sell as well as the competitor’s product.
• If a competitor has a large product range, this could be seen as a strength, as the competitor is likely to be able to target a wider range of customers.
• If a competitor sells a high-quality item, it is considered a strength.
• Customer service is extremely important for a small business.
• Customer service refers to the service offered to customers by a business before, during and after a transaction has taken place.
• Most small businesses ensure they provide an excellent level of customer service, for example by serving customers quickly.
• If a competitor is slow at serving customers, this could be a weakness of the competitor.
• If a competitor sells a low-quality item, it is considered a weakness.
• Convenience refers to how easy something is to purchase, reach or use.
• Convenience is also linked to location.
• If a competitor only sells one product, this may be seen as a weakness as the competitor will have limited market reach.
• Product range refers to the number and types of products or services that are sold by a business.
• If an entrepreneur knows what their competitors’ USPs are, they can create their own USP that either rivals their competitors’, or is completely different
• Price Price refers to how much a product or service costs to purchase
• Knowing how much competitors charge for their products is very important
• If a competitor sells a lot of similar products in the local area at a low price, an entrepreneur may also need to charge a low price in order to compete and make sure their products sell
• Quality refers to how well a product is made or how prestigious it is
• If an object is prestigious, this means it attracts respect or admiration based on its quality or other attributes
• The competitive environment in business refers to how a business is affected by its competition and how it adapts its practices to compete effectively
• Competition between businesses is beneficial for customers as it leads to the offering of good-quality products and services at competitive prices
• Competitors can drive businesses to innovate and constantly update their products and services to attract customers
• Territorial competition can occur when one business tries to force others to close down by setting extremely low prices or offers that are hard to compete with