Sun Tzu and Competitive Analysis

Sun Tzu's "The Art of War", a book about military strategy in feudal China, found a significant following in the business sector in recent years. Although the text is written for generals, much of it can be directly applied to businesses. One particular line deals directly with competitive analysis, and serves as something of an inspiration to learn as much as possible about competing businesses.

"It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle."

Keeping this in mind, think about your company and your competitors. This quote does not deal with you being better than them, it deals with you understanding your limitations and strong points, as well as theirs. When you pitch your company over your competitors, are you touching each point where you have the clear upper hand and each point where they are clearly lacking? Current cable company vs satellite tv ads work like this. "We've got X number of channels with free X!" "They may have X channels, but how will you watch them if a tornado breaks the lines!". If you highlight your company's strong points, and your competitors weak points, you will likely find success... at least according to the following line:

"If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected."

Obviously, not all of this quote is relevant, but the point remains- strike when your competitors are unprepared, and appear unexpectedly. Taking stock of your competition, when are they unprepared? In the case of toy stores at Christmas, let's say you run a small shop, and you are fighting against Toys 'R Us all year. Perhaps you can 'attack' the store by overstocking a popular toy, and making it known that you have supplies when they run out. In this way you can draw the people that were looking for that toy specifically, and 'win' against Toys 'R Us.

Now that you see a little of Sun Tzu's wisdom, consider how competitive analysis can be applied to websites. Are you aware of everything on the competition's website? Does your site stack up against theirs? Where do you need to learn more about yourself, and what don't you know about your 'enemy'?

If they have a certain section of the site that you don't have, you need to figure out how to counteract it. Maybe you have something they are missing. Figure out how to use that against them, and what to do if they add it. Make a checklist of what you have, and then review their site, checking off what they also have, and adding what more they have. You should keep an updated version of this (or something like it) so you know what to pitch, what not to pitch, and what of theirs to discuss. After all:

"The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand."