Business Strategy Part 1: Competitive Analysis

This is the first of our business strategy series where we use Costco as our case study. Learn how to analyze the “macro” and “micro” competitive environment and how your product or business stacks up to the competition in every way.

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Meet Your Instructor

Nic Barnhart

Cofounder & CPO, Pareto Labs
Finance/Analytics, ZipRecruiter

Tommy Moreno

Cofounder & CEO, Pareto Labs
Strategic Planning, Disney

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Curriculum

01

Introduction

In this overview of the course you will understand why you might want to enter a new market and how to think about the decision.

02

What is Competitive Analysis?

Learn the basics of analyzing a market on a macro scale, looking at the larger economy, and on a micro scale, zooming in on the forces specific to your product.

03

The PEST Framework Explained

Learn the framework for analyzing the macro competitive environment as we examine political, economic, social, and technological factors.

04

Macro-Evaluation Using PEST

Learn how to take all of your analysis and turn it into a decision about whether the macro competitive environment is favorable or unfavorable.

05

Porter’s 5 Forces (Part 1)

Understand micro-analysis as we introduce the five forces that influence entering a market (plus a bonus sixth force!).

06

Porter’s 5 Forces (Part 2)

 

We finish covering the five forces and apply them to Costco.

07

Drawing A Conclusion

Determine if the micro competitive environment is favorable and then combine your insights from both analyses to make a final decision on whether to enter the market.

What people are saying about this course…

"The course breaks down PEST quite nicely and makes all the different components very easy to understand."
Ivonne Y Business Founder
"Concise explanations, real world examples, great visuals."
Jackie P Head of Marketing
"This is what is needed to get ready to pitch to VC, and to be ready to make it out of beta with a product. THANK YOU."
Christina S
"The presentation was presented in a simple way that helped me to gain value from it. The illustrations are a nice touch."
Maryann S Loan Officer