What consumers really think about your competitors and what it means to you

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - May 13, 2013 - PRLog -- Jacksonville, FL – 5/13/13 – First of all, what do we mean by competitors? A competitor is another company whom a client can purchase a product/service from as easily as they can purchase the product/service from you. Let’s say my business is pizza.  My competitor could be another pizza maker.  It could be the Chinese restaurant, or even the grocery store, or fast food joint in my neighborhood.  All of these companies are vying for the same dollars, so they are all competitors.
We have come up with some online resources that can help you to identify your competitors and to keep track of them as time marches on. One of these sites is sunbiz.org.  This site allows you to search every business in Florida and find out the names of the decision makers working for the competition.  Reference USA can give you information regarding number of employees, amount of revenue generated annually, and how much they spend in advertising.  MapBusinessOnline.com helps you to identify like businesses within a certain radius of your location.  Finally, one of my favorites, Google alerts.  You can set up your google account to send you an email to notify you whenever your competitors, or your industry is in the news.
The online stuff is great, but often times, nothing beats simply becoming a customer of your competition.  See what your prospects see and experience what your prospects experience when they choose to buy from your competitor.  Try to remain objective.  What do they do well?  Are there things that they do that maybe, you should be doing?
Most likely, you did a lot of these things when you first opened your doors.  It’s a good idea to periodically check up on your competition.  Surprises are fun for birthday parties but not for mapping out your next quarters revenue projections.