[MUSIC] Social entrepreneurs don't operate in a vacuum. They operate in complex changing environments. So today we're going to talk a little bit about how you can understand the competitive environment in which your enterprise operates. Why would we care about the competition and how we position ourselves in relationship to the competition? I think there are three important reasons we should care about this topic. First where you see yourself and how you position yourself will determine who your organization is and what it's perceive as doing. Second the people around the organization are going to understand it in a certain way depending on how you position it, how you claim it's place in the environment. So for investors, funders, positioning matters. They want to know what's your relationship with existing enterprises. And finally when it comes to differentiating and getting your product or service to stand out. This exercise is very important. It will allow you to find those key elements of your project that make it different from others. Will make it stand out in the market. So from both an investor perspective and an identity perspective it matters. But finally don't neglect the power of having a product that really stands out, that is special. So let's look at this question of differentiation in competitive positioning. I think there's some basic kind of things we want to know. One is, what is the market in which my organization or enterprise operates? What is the sphere in which I am going to operate and claim my place? Second, what are the common products customers and geographies or locations that my organization's going to share with other organizations? Where's it fit in across those three dimensions? Finally, the big question is what really differentiates and sets my organization apart? If you can answer those three questions, you're getting closer to understanding your competitive position. And being able to communicate it clearly. We are going to work on getting to the point where you really have a good grip on your competitive stands and position in the market. Think about two different phases of competitive analysis. At the start-up when you're just had an idea and just rolling out your first products or services. Understanding the competition matters, because it's going to give you that initial orientation about what to do, where to aim, how to proceed. So, the start-up stage, it gives the social entrepreneur an opportunity to signal to others what is that's going to happen. Where this organization or enterprise fits in the environment. And it's a kind of great kind of starting point for an entrepreneur to be able say, this is where I fit. This is where my vision going forward is going to leave me. But for an ongoing social enterprise, one that's been around. One that finds its place in an existing market. Competitive Analysis is very useful, because the world in which enterprises operate constantly changes. New entrance come in. The policy or economic environment may shift. There are changes that constantly happen, so Competitive Analysis is something that is very valuable once you've gone into the process of being a social entrepreneur running an enterprise. It's a valuable thing to kind of check back and see hows the world change from when I entered to where it is right now. It gives you this opportunity to say how has the landscape changed and how has my position in that landscape evolved. Think about, to start with, as you kind of get this idea of competitive position and going. Think about three levels. Think about the general market, which is every type of organization serving the same product, same consumer, same location or geography. That will give you a large number of organizations very broadly construed as the general market. 50 organizations, something like that. 20, 30, 50 whatever, it's a large number. But that's not going to be where we stop. We're going to drove down one level further, which are those direct competitors. It's going to be three, five, 10 organizations at most who are going to be very close to what you want to do. But that are going to have some important differences that you can highlight and that can make the case for your place in the marketplace. So think about it as kind of a funnel. With a large number of organizations at the top, a smaller number, their very close to where you are. And then of course you in this mix. So what is the market that you're going to operate in? Come back to these three big concept, the product, the customer, and the geography. If you can start to identify what other options are out there in both Geography and Customer domain, as well as in the Product domain, you'll get going on this process of understanding your positioning. So you want to ask key questions like, who else is providing the same product or service? Who else is providing the same product or service to the same customer, but potentially in different geographies? Who else is providing the same product or service in the same place, but maybe to different customers? And finally, who else is providing the same product or service in the same place that I want to operate in? You can ask a series of questions about where are you in this Venn diagram? How many people are in the sweet spot of triple overlap? How many are in the double overlap zones and how many are in single overlap zones? You can start by just plot and understand whose out there by using these three big initial starting points. So what do you actually learn from initial competitive scan or assessment? I think you start to get a sense of who else is out there. Is the market place I'm interested in saturated? That's something you can ask yourself after you have done a competitive analysis. You can get a sense of what's out there and how many people are out there. You can also get a sense of is this a stable market? Is it one that has relative calm? Not too much flux of new entrance, new products. Is it one, that is dynamic where new things are constantly emerging. If you do a good competitive analysis, you'll start to understand this market that you're entering. You'll start to understand the people, the products, and the locations in which services are being delivered. And it'll give you a chance to be able to make your case in a way that shows that you're informed. That you're not operating in a vacuum, that in fact you know what else is out there and that you've chosen to do what you want to do. Because it stands out, it's different, and it's needed. [MUSIC]
