Not assessing your competition is a missed opportunity when establishing your dental practice. While competition can make profitability challenging, being smaller and more innovative positions your practice to be purchased by a larger more conventional practice looking to add products and services, and sales to larger competitors are normally quite lucrative. Here’s why and how to get a feel for where you stand.
Competitive market analysis
Create a list of competitors based on specialty or geographic area, including types of products and service lines, expected market share, marketing strategies, and notable strengths and weaknesses. This will help managers account for the presence of competitors when making business decisions, identify the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, and exploit
weaknesses, emulate strengths, or avoid competing in areas where other companies are especially strong. Market analysis should be conducted on an overall basis, as well as a more localized competitive analysis.
Online resources
For better or worse, online reviews and rankings on Google, Yelp, and Facebook can give a clear view of public opinion. Then, utilize online resources to develop your analysis to determine if the information you are basing your decisions on is valid.
Business plan
Create a strong business plan by outlining all aspects of your practice, including mission, goals, structure, and service lines, while also assessing your financial information. Also consider if you are a specialist, your referrals, and if they already have an established relationship with the competition. How can you use that information to gain a competitive edge?
What’s next?
Contact the experts at Professional Transition Strategies to start a business analysis and get a leg up on your competition.
The original version of this post appears on the Professional Transition Strategies website