37 Ways for a Business to be More Competitive

I love this new article on Smarta which really is gold-dust for business teachers…

Here is the link to the Smarta article - well worth bookmarking

The article outlines the many ways (they come up with 37) in which a business can try to gain a competitive advantage. Of course, some of these are easier said (or written) than done. But the suggestions provide a rich source of ideas for students to consider. They are loosely categorised under headings such as “Your Product”, “Customer Service”, “Your Business”. One option would be to recategorise them under the main headings of the marketing mix.

A good extension activity would be to ask students to consider what resource requirements a business might need to achieve one or more of these suggestions.

A further activity would be for students to take an existing product (ideally something well known and established) and consider whether competitors might be able to gain an advantage using these suggestions.

Lastly, you might ask students to consider which of the suggested approaches is likely to be sustainable. After all, competitive advantage only really translates into higher sales and profits if it can be sustained in the medium/long-term.