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A Bootstrapper's Take on Competitive Analysis

Alex Hillman
September 26, 2011

A Bootstrapper's Take on Competitive Analysis

It's all about finding market fit. What if you started finding your market before you even had a product? Start your competitive analysis before you start your business.

Alex Hillman

September 26, 2011
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Transcript

  1. Your Market • Your market are your customers • Your

    market is not your community • Your customers are your audience • Your market is your audience Monday, September 26, 11
  2. Where a Business Comes From • Find a Good Audience

    • Get to Know Their Needs • Learn to Understand their worldview • Define their - and your - constraints • Use it all to craft a compelling offer Monday, September 26, 11
  3. Where a Business Comes From • Find a Good Audience

    • Get to Know Their Needs • Learn to Understand their worldview • Define their - and your - constraints • Use it all to craft a compelling offer Monday, September 26, 11
  4. What happens when you start with an idea? • Verify

    • Explain • Find people who will pay • Revise based on feedback (if there’s even customers) • Guess and check the price • Always wonder about other similar ideas Monday, September 26, 11
  5. Problems with Problems • No idea who wants a problem

    solved • You lack the ability to sell it to people. • They don’t know they have a problem. • They don’t care. • They don’t see it as a problem. Monday, September 26, 11
  6. Your Audience • Will you enjoy working with them? •

    Do they pay for things? • Do you understand the audience? • Do they understand you? Monday, September 26, 11
  7. Good Ideas Come From Good Audiences • What problems do

    they have and want to solve? • What are they missing? • What do they need? • How do they want to hear about it? •How do they look at their problems? • Can you solve it and solve it well? • How do they think about and quantify value? Monday, September 26, 11
  8. Learn Quick from Levi Strauss • Look for gold rushes,

    not gold • Serve the prospectors • Seek the gold in what you already have and know Monday, September 26, 11
  9. DFCR • Demand How badly they want it • Frequency

    How often do they want it • Cost How much does each sale require to acquire • Revenue How much money each sale generates Monday, September 26, 11
  10. DFCR for Indy Hall 1.0 • $4000/month Target • 25

    x $160/per member • Demand - Low • Frequency - Monthly (membership) • Cost - Moderate to high • Revenue - $160 (moderate to high) Monday, September 26, 11
  11. DFCR for Indy Hall 1.0 • $4000/month Target • 160

    x $25/per member • Demand - Moderate to High • Frequency - Monthly (membership) • Cost - Low • Revenue - $25 (Low) Monday, September 26, 11
  12. 3 levels of Membership • Basic $25 = 50+ •

    Lite $175 = 15+ • Full $275 = 30+ • Bonus points - membership presales Monday, September 26, 11
  13. Where to find a Good Audience • Signs of life.

    • Signal-to-noise ratio. • Do people talk to each other? • Are there regulars? • Themes & topic patterns. • Helpers. Monday, September 26, 11
  14. Things you need to learn • Do these people try

    new things • Do these people pay for things Monday, September 26, 11
  15. Excuse #1: It seems hard • No shit. Put in

    the time, it’s worth it. Monday, September 26, 11
  16. Excuse #2: It’s taking forever • What’s your hurry? It’s

    not any more fun to stand around all day with a product nobody wants or you can’t sell? Monday, September 26, 11
  17. Excuse #3: My Audience Isn’t Profitable • Is there a

    business counterpart to your audience? Think creatively. Monday, September 26, 11
  18. Excuse #4: My Audience Doesn’t Seem To Buy Things •

    Remember, you don’t need your ENTIRE audience to buy things. Just some of them. • Turn the audience around. Monday, September 26, 11
  19. Excuse #5: I don’t Like My Audience • They probably

    don’t like you, either • Turn your audience around Monday, September 26, 11
  20. Excuse #6: I Can’t Find My Audience • Look for

    more specific versions of the same name • Look for in-industry terminology Monday, September 26, 11