Look out for news items and case studies on your competitors. These would give you a fair idea of what makes them stand out and what doesn’t. Sometimes it is also possible to study customer reviews of services offered by your competitors. This sort of information is invaluable. It will help you in offering your customers something your competitors don’t.
Assessing the competition also will also help you in deciding on an idea. For instance, sometimes it may not be worth selling a particular kind of content or service if your competitors are dominant market leaders and cater to a high percentage of the market segment.
Access to content resources
You have an idea of a great information product or service for your website. You also have worked out techniques on how to make this service unique, which is great. However, all of this means nothing if you do not have access to resources needed to successfully implement your plan. Understanding your resources is a vital aspect of every business. Do you have access to good copywriters and other staff needed to execute your plan? Are you flexible enough and would it be possible to adapt your service to your customers’ particular needs? Do you have enough resources to constantly update your service and hold an edge over your competitors? These are areas you need to look at before you finalize your business idea.
Fulfillment and Customer service capabilities
There is no substitute for good customer service. In order to increase and retain your customer base, you fulfillment and customer service capabilities have to be top notch. You should have the necessary infrastructure in place so that you customers can contact you anytime they have a problem.
The bottom line is to provide outstanding service every time. “Wow” your customer with your fast turn-around, or low pricing, or free trial, or unexpected extras, or generous warrantee, etc. Quality and high satisfaction guarantee repeat customers. And they generate word-of-mouth referrals - the most targeted and least expensive way to develop leads, produce contracts, and increase profits.
Quick business plan assessment – startup costs and cash flow
Finally, you need to work out your budget and estimate the startup costs as well as ongoing costs. For a small venture, these costs are not very high. Given below is an estimate of the kinds of costs you may incur for setting up a subscription website.
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