Over the last 20 years, I have researched countless businesses in the United States and around the world. The reasons for doing this work have varied from project to project. In today’s post, I want to talk about one important reason for doing business research: seeing how your organization stacks up against others in your field.
This type of business research is called competitor analysis. Commonly used in the for-profit world, I believe it also can be valuable for nonprofits. I will address both in this post.
Competitor analysis provides two things:
- a clear perspective on how your organization is doing now relative to its peers
- insights to guide planning activities.
This type of project can explore many angles, including:
- types of products and services offered
- pricing of goods and services
- other sources of funding
- annual revenue
- staffing
- website traffic
- social media traction
The scope of a competitor analysis can be broad or narrow. You might want to explore how your organization stacks up to all competitors in your field. Alternatively, you may be stumped about why a particular competitor appears to be doing so well. In this case, you may want to just compare this one key competitor to your organization.
Whether you take a comprehensive or narrow focus, the goal of competitor analysis is the same. You want to figure out where your competitor(s) might be excelling and how you might be able to gain an edge.
Why?
Whether you work in the for- or non-profit sector, these insights can help you:
- design products and services that fill gaps in the current market
- understand how your competitors are behaving online (and where you might have room to improve your online engagement)
- clarify your organization’s value to clients and funders
In a future post, I will discuss the components of a competitor analysis in more detail. For now, I am curious: Has your organization, whether nonprofit or for-profit conducted a competitor analysis? What did you learn? How did it help you plan for the future?