How to Get the Competitive Edge in Your Industry

Unless you have an extremely unique product or service, or are a recognised market leader, it can sometimes feel impossible to achieve or retain any sort of competitive edge in your chosen industry.

However, there are a few strategies that will help you stay on the ball and possibly even get ahead of your competitors.

Watch Out for Products and Services You Could Implement in Your Company

Start off by making a list of complementary products for whatever it is you currently offer. It could be technological, medicinal, or just plain common sense – if you can see it ever developing to impact on your profession, write it down. You don’t have to regularly research every item on your list, but it’s a great starting point and can help you recognise potential opportunities when they arise.

A great example of this could be software. If you ran a busy law firm and noticed that a specialty legal software company such as GlobalX Legal Solutions was releasing a new product, service,or solution that looked like it could really save time and impact positively on the quality of your service, you could find yourself one of the first firms to integrate the new program. This could help you achieve things ahead of others in the field, which looks good to all your key stakeholders.

Keep Track of Industry Developments

Your knowledge of your industry is as wide or as limited as you make it. With so many resources available, you can do everything from downloading industry reports to subscribing to relevant publications to keep up to date. If you know exactly what is going on around you, you are in a great place to respond quickly to important developments or to even anticipate them.

Obviously, this puts you miles ahead of anyone still unaware and lets you change or adapt your product or service, put a huge sale on, or create a new product line. A fast response is great for your returns, but it also looks good to everyone with an interest in your company.

Update Your Knowledge

That old adage “knowledge is power” was definitely onto something. Expanding your skillset, whether in another facet of your current industry or in a different industry with applicable principles or skills that will cross over, is a great way to introduce an edge to the way you do business. There are some great areas of study that are relevant no matter what you do for a living – business, marketing or IT, for example. They form the base of many social operations, and having at least a basic understanding can reap benefits no matter what your profession is.

Thanks to the internet, traditional university or TAFE degrees are no longer the only avenues to gain further education. Many institutions offer a range of free online courses, which can be guided or self-paced depending on the course provider.

If you’re itching to get ahead, don’t settle for doing things the way they’ve always been done. Don’t be scared to think outside the box and give different ideas a try. Have you got any other hints for securing a competitive edge in your profession? Share them in the comments below.