What Is A Competitive Advantage?
Your competitive advantage (one or more) is what influences someone to buy something from you rather than one of your competitors. Do you make something of higher quality? Or less cost? Or especially noteworthy. Or use rare materials? What is it that sets you apart, or as Heather Bunker puts it, what is your secret sauce?
Competitive advantage is your ability to outperform your competition. It is you way to design, create, produce, distribute, market and/or sell products and services better than anyone else. It is something that cannot be easily replicated, or, if it is at some point, you can build back better.
There are all types of competitive advantages. Businesses might emphasize one, or several. Some examples of competitive advantages that jewelry design businesses might claim:
1. Authenticity and honesty
2. Rarity
3. Individuality, tailor-made, custom
4. Material quality
5. Technical prowess
6. Access, Location, Visibility
7. Timeliness
8. Special occasions (ready for those …weddings, etc.)
9. Financing, payment plans
10. Innovation
11. Extensive knowledge about materials and techniques
12. Environmentally friendly, sustainable
13. Socio-culturally friendly, sensitive
14. Prominence / reputation of designer
15. Mass quantity production
16. Service Orientation: repairs, custom work, style consultation
17. Pricing, discounts
18. Concurrently maintaining both quality and prices
19. Use of technology
20. Unusual designs
21. Brand loyalty
22. Ownership of copyright
23. Where differences from your competitors, such as different product mix or material use or better craftsmanship, might make you appear superior to them
Why Is Having A Competitive Advantage Important To You?
Competitive advantage is what makes your products and services more desirable to customers than any of your rivals. When you customers recognize these competitive advantages, you are more likely to make sales and more likely to be profitable. You are more likely to grow your business and enjoy greater customer loyalty.
The jewelry design business is very saturated worldwide. On Etsy on any day, there are over 6,000,000 (that’s 6 million) pieces of jewelry for sale. Don’t see this as a defeat. See this as a challenge. Your competitive advantage will help get you that edge, and make you more memorable.
Your competitive advantage is something that you can repeat or allude to in your business name, how you name your jewelry and jewelry lines, your tag line, your elevator pitch, your domain name, your marketing and branding strategies. It might influence how you design your products, distribute them, and put boundaries around your target market.
What Are The Components Underlying Any Competitive Advantage?
You use your competitive advantage as a means of communication. As such, to establish any competitive advantage, you must know 3 things:
1. VALUE PROPOSITION
2. TARGET MARKET
3. COMPETITION
1. Value Proposition
You must clearly identify what attributes of your products or services make them desirable to your customers. What is the value to them? Why does this value motivate them sufficiently to touch, wear, buy and/or collect your jewelry? What things might further get them to show off and talk about your jewelry to their friends, acquaintances and relatives?
2. Target Market
Your advantages will not be seen and understood equally by all people. And you don’t really care about all people. You care specifically about your more narrow market audience or market niche focus. What does your advantage look like to them? Why will it motivate them? What evidence are you using to know this?
You might take the time to ask some of your customers why they buy from you and not your competition?
3. Competition
Your competitive advantage is always in reference to some other business or designer. It is comparative. It differentiates you. It influences a choice of you over others. You competition might be traditional. It might be non-traditional. It might be emerging.
How does your competition look like from your customer’s viewpoint?
How Do You Determine Your Competitive Advantage(s)?
First, think about your strengths.
Second, think about the strengths and weaknesses of your major competitors. These competitors might be in your same geographic location, or they may be online.
Search on Google and Etsy for jewelry makers. How do they present themselves? What qualities do they emphasize? What competitive advantages do they claim? Based on what evidence? How do they link their idea of competitive advantage to their assessments of customer needs, wants and desires?
Last, list what things you are better at than your competitors.
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FOOTNOTES
Bunker, Heather. What Is Your Handmade Business’s Secret Sauce — Or Differentiator? 5/6/2020.
As referenced in:
https://www.heatherbunker.com/post/what-is-your-handmade-businesss-secret-sauce-or-differentiator
Peterdy, Kyle. Competitive Advantage. 8/9/2022.
As referenced in:
https://www.heatherbunker.com/post/what-is-your-handmade-businesss-secret-sauce-or-differentiator
Twin, Alexandra. Competitive Advantage Definition with Types and Examples, Investopedia, 5/22/2022.
As referenced in:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/competitive_advantage.asp
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Thank you. I hope you found this article useful.
Also, check out my website (www.warrenfeldjewelry.com).
Enroll in my jewelry design and business of craft Video Tutorials online. Begin with my ORIENTATION TO BEADS & JEWELRY FINDINGS COURSE.
Follow my articles on Medium.com.
Subscribe to my Learn To Bead blog (https://blog.landofodds.com).
Visit Land of Odds online (https://www.landofodds.com)for all your jewelry making supplies.
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Other Articles of Interest by Warren Feld:
Saying Good-Bye! To Your Jewelry: A Rite Of Passage
The Jewelry Design Philosophy: Not Craft, Not Art, But Design
Creativity: How Do You Get It? How Do You Enhance It?
Disciplinary Literacy and Fluency In Design
Becoming The Bead Artist and Jewelry Designer
5 Essential Questions Every Jewelry Designer Should Have An Answer For
Getting Started / Channeling Your Excitement
Getting Started / Developing Your Passion
Getting Started / Cultivating Your Practice
Becoming One With What Inspires You
Architectural Basics of Jewelry Design
Doubt / Self Doubt: Major Pitfalls For The Jewelry Designer
Techniques and Technologies: Knowing What To Do
Jewelry Making Materials: Knowing What To Do
Teaching Discplinary Literacy: Strategic Thinking In Jewelry Design
The Jewelry Designer’s Approach To Color
Point, Line, Plane, Shape, Form, Theme: Creating Something Out Of Nothing
The Jewelry Designer’s Path To Resonance
Jewelry Design Principles: Composing, Constructing, Manipulating
Jewelry Design Composition: Playing With Building Blocks Called Design Elements
Contemporary Jewelry Is Not A “Look” — It’s A Way Of Thinking
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