While businesses are constantly competing across their industries, businesses often compete closer to home too. Local competition in San Francisco can be tough, so it's important that business leaders know who their local competitors are and how they operate.
Only once you obtain an understanding of the nearby business landscape can you take the appropriate measures to differentiate yourself or even start collaborating with other businesses. Five members of Forbes San Francisco Business Council shed some light on how they handle local competition.
1. Understand What Makes You Different
Let’s take the example of two schools training software engineers. One is lecture-based, and the other one is project-based. Can one school train them all? Probably not. Are all students inclined to learn the same way? Probably not. Here, collaboration is far more likely to be profitable. The takeaway is that it’s generally better to focus on bringing value on both sides rather than wasting energy on fighting the competition. Understand what makes you different from your competition and capitalize on that. - Sylvain Kalache, Holberton School
2. Try To Build Relationships
We typically handle local competition with excitement and grace. By that, I mean we typically like to at least try to build relationships with local competitors if they're willing and open-minded. In the global market of health care, competitors that are located in our area can provide valuable brainstorming and partnership opportunities. This space, generally, is big enough for two or three of us. - Cameron Jacox, Lark Technologies, Inc.
3. Create Stronger Alliances
When you build a stronger alliance with your competition, they are no longer seen as competition and are more like partners. Figure out how your competition complements your business model, and work together to dominate the market. For example, you can throw an event that showcases both of your businesses in one place and how you serve the market differently. - Sweta Patel, Silicon Valley Startup Marketing
4. Amplify Local Players By Building A Platform
Our company built a platform to help parents with everything from finding kid-friendly places to answering their questions. Instead of competing with local resources, work with them. Our strategy is to build a platform that drives leads to local resources and helps those businesses grow. In turn, we become more valuable as a platform. - Sara Mauskopf,Winnie
5. Build A Strong Brand
We've reached a point where every market is saturated. To stand out from the crowd, be authentic, be transparent, and be different. If you're doing the same marketing as everyone else, why would you expect better results? Developing a strong brand and a personal brand for your figureheads can build trust, gain authority and lead to more sales. - Jeff J Hunter,BrandedMedia.io
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