April 3rd 2009 08:05 am
Small Business Owners Should Know
Possible differentiating factors
With most businesses, it is very important to be better than, or different from, existing businesses in some way that is important to your customers; this is called differentiation. Differentiation usually incurs greater costs, so you should be sure that the benefits gained (selling more or being able to charge a higher price) by differentiating a product or service in a particular way outweigh the costs of doing so. There are a number of ways in which you can differentiate almost any business, for example:
- offer the best quality
- occupy a prime location
- be the first
- offer the quickest/most comprehensive/most caring service
- operate early in the morning/late at night/24-hours a day
- target a particular sex/age group/income group/occupation
- offer a safer/sturdier/greener/lighter/fashionable product
- offer a delivery/maintenance/repair/advice service
- offer a guarantee
- provide information (instructions/a story) with the product
- offer an upgrade/replacement agreement
- get a brand name or trademark and develop brand loyalty
- offer new/more/better product features
- offer a wider/narrower range of products or services
- use the latest production technology
- employ highly qualified/skilled/experienced personnel
- promote heavily (advertise, organize competitions, etc.)
- use a unique distribution method
- develop a personal relationship with customers
- offer customized products
- use special materials in products
Critical success factors
Many factors determine the success or failure of any business, but only a few of the more important (or less obvious) ones are listed.
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5 Comments »
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