Identifying Competitors

Competitors consists those who make similar type of products and services and sell them to the similar customers at similar prices.  Competitors can be following:

1). that make the similar product or class of products.

2). that supply the similar type of services.

3). that compete for the similar consumer dollars.

Companies must ignore "competitive myopia" (only seeing one set of competitors). Companies can recognize their competitors from the industrial viewpoint or the market point of view. One of the approaches is to profile the company's indirect and direct competitors by mapping the steps purchaser take in obtaining and using the product (For example a competitor map).