My Competitive Set Analysis – Final Thoughts

It’s been a long, but somehow short, journey from the beginning of February to now. My competitive set analysis is over! Wow. It feels like time just went by like that! However, isn’t that how things like this go sometimes? At first, you feel like it’s going to take a long time, and a month is a decently long time, but then at the end, it doesn’t feel like a month has gone by.

Do you know what I mean?

It’s the feeling of having done something, and being glad it’s over. But not in a bad way. It’s more like, “I have accomplished something!”

I get a similar feeling when I finish a book (although depending on the book, sometimes I wish it could go on forever!) or finish a performance during the run of a particular show. It’s the feeling of putting the last piece of the puzzle in place, stepping back, and knowing it’s complete, and you are free to move on to the next exciting thing.

I hope you get to experience that feeling often!

I have learned a lot from this experience! I have included them here for your convenience:

1. People are Different Online than in Real Life

This statement might seem obvious, but bear with me here! When emailing these bakeries, I made judgments on them based off of the tone of their emails. The only store that I didn’t base off of an email was Bakery C since they called me in person to discuss their wedding options. I quickly realized after visiting the stores in person, that most of the in-store service didn’t match the vibe of their emails. For example, Bakery A didn’t seem to even want me to order a cake from them at all, but when I visited their store, they had the nicest customer service of all five bakeries. It’s hard to convey your emotions over text message or email because people can’t hear the tone of your voice. This is why conflict is best resolved face to face or through a phone call. Resolving conflict has nothing to do with my competitive set analysis. It’s just that the principle is the same: give it your best effort to make sure your true intent comes across in your emails!

2. No Two Bakeries are Exactly the Same

Their stores all had a different atmosphere, the cakes were different in taste as was the frosting, and the appearance of each cake, although some were similar, were different too. I’m glad they’re different. They each have their biggest strengths and weaknesses, and one bakery’s strength is another’s weakness. Plus, it’d be BORING if they were all the same! No variety equals no creativity which equals no fun. What if there was a universal flavor of cake? Ugh! That’s why they have to be different. People like them because they’re different, and they wouldn’t like them if they weren’t.

3. Finding the Best Way to Present Your Data is Essential

While creating the charts for the SWOT analyses, I realized I just couldn’t use any chart format and expect it to work out. Specific charts are used for specific purposes. When selecting a chart to display your data, first consider what you want to prove with said data. Next, choose a chart that will most effectively get that point across to others. I hadn’t really thought of that before!

4. How to Write a SWOT Analysis

I learned how to write a SWOT analysis, and obviously, how to conduct a competitive set analysis this past month. The SWOT analysis was valuable to me because it helped me think creatively to come up with opportunities and threats. For the strengths and weaknesses, I could just look at my charts and give an answer, but for the opportunities and threats, I needed to think outside the box. I used my spreadsheet to come up with these ideas because every subcategory was listed there and I could easily remember each item. From there, it was easy to decipher which areas presented opportunities and which areas were threatening to each bakery.

5. Coming up With a Scoring System is Necessary

My first blog post about what I was analyzing for week one did not have any points associated with it. I had not even thought they would be necessary! Amanda Grimmett was kind enough to point out to me that having a point system would make everything else easier in the end during the SWOT analysis, and she was right! I have no idea how I would have done it otherwise! This is true in most areas of life as well. Are you selling? Keep records (How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Bettger). No matter what you do, try to find a way to keep score. Leadership expert Orrin Woodward always says, “You can’t expect what you don’t inspect!”

6. No Company is Perfect

Analyzing these companies showed me that they none of them are perfect. They all have areas where they could be improving, even when I couldn’t think of any at first glance! It’s like this in one’s personal life as well. Sometimes you have to be brutally honest with yourself and figure out what you need to change to be the person you were meant to be.