Striding Ahead of the Competition

Business is all about competition. You see it everywhere, from iOS vs. Android or Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi to Uber vs. Lyft, and even on a smaller scale. Your local greengrocers vs. the multinational supermarket (Walmart, Costco, Trader Joe’s). The list of competition is endless, and just because your business is a startup doesn’t mean you should ignore your competition, too. 

Competition breeds innovation. Without it, your business stagnates; it gets complacent; and perhaps worst of all, it risks falling behind. To ensure you stride ahead of the competition and stay ahead of it, too, here are some useful tips to consider. 

Streamlined Operations

In a company, everyone should have a role; otherwise, what are they doing there? However, with such an accelerated evolution of technology and day-to-day operations, you must stay up to date with the latest in-house practices. 

Options such as online accounting software, marketing automation, and outsourcing allow you to find the time that for so long seemed to evaporate as soon as you walked into the office. Not only will you find more time to focus on improving strategies, but you’ll also see an increased budget that allows you to take the next step and push for further growth. 

Despite these streamlined operations, there’s no need to put employees in these departments out of a job but instead offer them other positions with more responsibility and allow them to oversee their department in a more senior role. 

A Little Espionage

The idea of checking out what your competition is up to may not sound exactly moral, but without it, there is no possibility of you being able to predict what they will do next. This isn’t a suggestion to go undercover, far from it, but instead undertaking deep, considered, and even obsessive analysis of what the competition is doing, how it is doing it, and whether it is doing it well enough. 

With this data, your business will be able to adapt its practices and predict what happens next. Often, it takes an external opinion to understand the bigger picture, and if by studying your competition’s marketing, communication, and product practices, you will put yourself in a superb position to stride further ahead. 

Get Into the Field

Nowadays, too much of business operates from high-rise offices or over online chat boxes. Some consumers believe that companies, both great and small, have lost that human touch, and this is a market for you to explore. 

Getting into the field with your customers allows you to better understand what they are looking for in a business. As a startup, your relationship with customers and clients is one of the most critical aspects, and if you neglect them, you risk seeing them flock to your competitors who may be willing to listen to what they say. 

Striding Ahead

Your business will never reach its potential unless you continue to find ways to improve operations and innovate your practices to make you an industry leader rather than a follower. By exploring these options, the ability to take charge of your industry and leave your competitors behind has never been greater.

This is a contributed post.