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Conducting a competitive analysis - Understand yourself first
Business strategies can be categorized in many ways. One popular method is to assess strategies based on their degree of aggressiveness. Aggressiveness strategies are rated according to their marketing assertiveness, their risk propensity, financial leverage, product innovation, speed of decision making, amongst others. 
Typically the range of aggressiveness strategies is classified into four categories: prospector, defender, analyzer, and reactor.
Are you a prospector, defender, analyzer or a reactor?
Where do you fit in?	Characteristics	
Prospector	•	Organization seeks innovation
•	Demonstrated ability to survey dynamic environment and develop new product/services to fit the changing environment
•	Frequently and continually innovating, developing, and testing new products/services
•	Competitors are uncertain about prospector’s future strategic decisions and actions	
Defender	•	Searches for market stability
•	Produces only a limited product line for a narrow segment of total potential market
•	Seeks to protect its well-established business
•	Does whatever is necessary to aggressively prevent competitors from entering their turf
•	Can carve out and maintain niches within their industries that competitors find difficult to penetrate	
Analyzer	•	Strategy of analysis and imitation
•	Thoroughly analyzes new business ideas before deciding to jump in
•	Watches for and copies the promising successful ideas of prospectors	
Reactor	•	Lacks coherent strategic plan
•	Simply reacts to environmental changes
•	Makes strategic adjustments only when finally forced to do so
•	Unable to respond quickly to environmental changes because resources/capabilities are lacking or are not developed or exploited properly	
Where do you see your strategy	Prospector. Defender, Analyzer or Reactor	

Check list for conducting a competitive analysis
Use this as guide to conduct a competitive analysis. Check off what you see as a threat or opportunity
Customise this to your own needs
Industry - Competitive Force	
			
Current Rivalry	Threat	Opportunity	
			
Numerous competitors	X		
Few competitors		X	
Equally balanced competitors	X		
One or a few strong competitors		X	
Industry sales growth slowing	X		
Industry sales growth strong		X	
High fixed or inventory storage costs	X		
Low fixed or inventory storage costs		X	
No differentiation or no switching costs	X		
Significant differentiation or significant or switching costs		X	
Large capacity increments required	X		
Minimal capacity increments required		X	
Diverse competitors	X		
Similar competitors		X	
High strategic stakes	X		
Low strategic stakes		X	
High exit barriers	X		
Minimal exit barriers		X	

Potential Entrants	Threat	Opportunity	
Significant economies of scale		X	
No or low economies of scale	X		
Cost disadvantages from other aspects		X	
No other potential cost disadvantages	X		
Strong product differentiation		X	
Weak product differentiation	X		
Huge capital requirements		X	
Minimal capital requirements	X		
Significant switching costs		X	
Minimal switching costs	X		
Controlled access to distribution channels		X	
Open access to distribution channels	X		
Government policy protection		X	
No government policy protection	X		

Bargaining Power of Buyers	Threat	Opportunity	
Buyer purchases large volumes	X		
Buyer purchases small volumes		X	
Products purchased are significant part of buyer’s cost	X		
Products purchased aren’t significant part of buyer’s cost		X	
Products purchased are standard or undifferentiated	X		
Products purchased are highly differentiated and unique		X	
Buyer faces few switching costs	X		
Buyer faces significant switching costs		X	
Buyer’s profits are low	X		
Buyer’s profits are strong		X	
Buyer has ability to manufacture products being purchased	X		
Buyer doesn’t have ability to manufacture products		X	
Industry’s products aren’t important to quality of buyer’s products	X		
Industry’s products are important to quality of buyer’s products		X	
Buyers have full information	X		
Buyers have limited information		X	

Bargaining Power of Suppliers	Threat	Opportunity	
Supplying industry has few companies and is more concentrated	X		
Supplying industry has many companies and is fragmented		X	
There are no substitute products for supplier’s products	X		
There are substitute products for supplier’s products		X	
Industry being supplied is not an important customer	X		
Industry being supplied is an important customer		X	
Supplier’s product is an important input to industry	X		
Supplier’s product is not an important input to industry		X	
Supplier’s products are differentiated	X		
Supplier’s products aren’t differentiated		X	
There are significant switching costs in supplier’s products	X		
There are minimal switching costs in supplier’s products		X	
Supplier has ability to do what buying industry does	X		
Supplier doesn’t have ability to do what buying industry does		X	

Substitute Products	Threat	Opportunity	
There are few good substitutes	X		
There are several not-so-good substitutes	X		
There are no good substitutes		X	

Conclusions and summary
[Enter your conclusions here]