1. Navigate your competitive landscape

<aside> 🔄 Recap: In the first section, you established the “why” behind starting your business, and brainstormed ideas for your business.

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Navigating your competition will be something you’ll need to weather at every stage of your business.

However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Just because aspects of your idea exist in one form, doesn’t mean there isn’t room for another player in the market. The key to navigating your competition will be to think about what will allow your business to shine amongst your competitors. The success of a business can depend on its unique selling proposition (USP). A USP is what makes a business stand out from competitors and ultimately what makes it “unique”.

For example, let’s use the hot sauce market. Think of how many different hot sauces are at the grocery store. These companies all sell the same product (hot sauce), but they stand out in different ways. Some hot sauces are organic and use different peppers, some have bright and fun packaging, while some may have drawbacks like containing high amounts of sugar or sodium. USPs can include locally sourced ingredients, cool packaging, healthy ingredients, and more.

<aside> 🌐 Bonus Content: Read more here about how a unique selling proposition can make your business stand out.

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<aside> ⚡ Hot Tip: Think about more than just pricing. Compete by offering distinctive, quality products or services, targeting diverse audiences, and developing new and interesting features to highlight.

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2. Search online for competitors in your industry.

You can make your business stand out by researching your competitors and finding where a USP could be most effective. Once you’ve found two competitors, fill out the following profiles, looking for gaps where you can position your business in a different way.

Competitor 1: [Name]

What do they do well?

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What don’t they do well?

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What can I do that is better or different?

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Competitor 2: [Name]

What do they do well?

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What don’t they do well?

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What can I do that is better or different?

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1. Find your target audience

It would be great if everybody was a potential customer for your business, but that’s rarely ever the case.

In fact, marketing your business is more difficult and less efficient when you don’t have a specific target in mind.

Instead, think about who the ideal audience for your business would be — the groups of people who need the least amount of convincing or selling to buy from you.

Your ideal audience profile doesn’t need to be 100% accurate (we’re using our imagination here), but this exercise should make it easier for you to make key decisions around product development, branding, and marketing with this audience in mind.

<aside> 🌐 Bonus Content: · Tips and insights on defining your target audience · Explore the Shopify business encyclopedia

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<aside> ⚡ Hot Tip: If you’re stuck on defining your ideal audience, consider conducting some deeper research. There are tons of insightful resources that can help you craft your target audience. Check out the bonus digital section for Shopify online resources.

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2. Use this demographic chart

Highlight all the items that best describe your ideal target audience.

Job industry	Hospitality	Education	Healthcare	Automotive Travel	Tech	Shipping Logistics	Arts Design
Age range	12-17	18-25	26-34	35-44	45-60	61-70	71+
Gender	Male	Female	Non-binary	Other
Tech savviness	Non-existent	Beginner	Intermediate	Professional	Expert
Hobbies	Reading Theatre	Food + Wine Travel	Hiking Camping	Crafts
Fine arts	Health Fitness Sports	Cooking Baking	Music Podcasts
Spends time on	Instagram	YouTube	Facebook	Snapchat	TikTok	Reddit	Pinterest

With this same target audience in mind, answer the following questions:

What do they regularly purchase?

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What do they splurge on?

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What’s most important to them when purchasing a product / service (price, reviews, quality)?

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<aside> 👏 Great work! Up next is 3: Building or return to the main dashboard: Shopify Business Blueprint

</aside>

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