Fazley RabbiCompetitor analysis means studying the businesses your customers could choose instead of you, so you can decide where to compete and where not to. You do not need expensive tools. A careful look at a handful of competitors, recorded in one simple grid and turned into two or three decisions, is enough for most small businesses. The goal is not to copy anyone. It is to understand the choices your customers face.
Step 1: Decide who counts as a competitor
Most owners list only the shop down the road. Real competitors fall into three groups:
- Direct competitors: businesses selling much the same thing to the same customers. Another pharmacy on your street, or another Facebook clothing page at a similar price.
- Indirect competitors: different products that meet the same need. A coaching centre competes with private tutors, online courses and free YouTube lessons.
- Doing nothing, or doing it themselves: the customer who keeps using a paper register instead of buying software, or cooks at home instead of ordering.
Pick three to six competitors to study closely, including at least one indirect option.
Step 2: Choose what to compare
Pick factors your customers actually care about. A typical starting list:
- What they sell, and which products seem to be their main focus
- Price level (budget, middle or premium) and payment options such as cash on delivery or bKash
- Who they target, and how they describe themselves
- Delivery speed, coverage area and returns
- Online presence: website, Facebook page, Google Business Profile, reviews
- What customers praise and what they complain about
Step 3: Gather information honestly
Most of what you need is public:
- Websites and social pages: products, prices, offers, how often they post and how they reply to comments.
- Reviews: Google and Facebook reviews show what customers value and what frustrates them. Complaints about a competitor are often your clearest opportunity.
- Search results: search the way your customers do, in Bangla, English and Banglish, and note who appears.
- Buying as an ordinary customer: placing a real order or asking a real question shows you their actual service. Do not pretend to be someone else to get private information.
- Your own customers and staff: ask people who chose you, and people who chose someone else, what they compared.
- Trade fairs and catalogues: public stands and brochures are fair to study. Do not ask suppliers or former staff to share a competitor's confidential information.
Staying ethical protects your reputation, and information gathered by deception is often unreliable anyway.
Step 4: Put it all in one grid
A simple table keeps the comparison honest. Here is a hypothetical example for a home bakery in Sylhet:
| Factor | Your bakery | Competitor A (shop) | Competitor B (Facebook page) | Competitor C (supermarket) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main offer | Custom cakes | Ready cakes, pastries | Themed cakes | Packaged cakes |
| Price level | Middle | Middle | Premium | Budget |
| Ordering | Walk-in | Messenger | Walk-in | |
| Delivery | Same city | None | Same city | None |
| Common praise | Taste | Location | Designs | Price |
| Common complaint | Slow replies | Limited choice | Late delivery | Not fresh |
Fill each cell from evidence, not memory, and mark anything you are unsure of with a question mark.
Step 5: Turn findings into decisions
Look across the grid and ask four questions:
- Where are we clearly better? Make that more visible in your marketing and your value proposition.
- Where are we clearly worse, in a way customers care about? Fix that first. In the example, slow WhatsApp replies are worth solving quickly.
- What does nobody do well? Late delivery is a common complaint, so reliable delivery could become a real difference.
- Where should we not compete? You may not want to fight a supermarket on price. The guide to positioning beyond price explains the alternatives.
If your prices are mostly set by watching competitors, also read setting prices from costs, value and competitors.
Mistakes to avoid
- Studying competitors once and never again. Review the grid every few months.
- Copying a competitor's prices without knowing their costs.
- Watching only the biggest name and ignoring small, fast-moving rivals.
- Treating every competitor feature as something you must match.
- Letting the analysis turn into worry. The point is to make better decisions, not to feel behind.
Start this week
Choose four competitors, including one indirect option, and fill in the grid with what you can verify. Then pick one weakness to fix and one strength to show more clearly. A competitor grid also feeds straight into an honest SWOT analysis. For help reading the results, see the business development service.