Sitemaps
Let's Get Back to Our Why
Does Startup Success Validate Us Personally?
How We Secretly Lose Control of Our Startups
Should Kids Follow in Our Founder Footsteps?
The Evolution of Entry Level Workers
Assume Everyone Will Leave in Year One
Stop Listening to Investors
Was Mortgaging My Life Worth it?
What's My Startup Worth in an Acquisition?
When Our Ambition is Our Enemy
Are Startups in a "Silent Recession"?
The 5 Types of Startup Funding
What Is Startup Funding?
Do Founders Deserve Their Profit?
Michelle Glauser on Diversity and Inclusion
The Utter STUPIDITY of "Risking it All"
Committees Are Where Progress Goes to Die
More Money (Really Means) More Problems
Why Most Founders Don't Get Rich
Investors will be Obsolete
Why is a Founder so Hard to Replace?
We Can't Grow by Saying "No"
Do People Really Want Me to Succeed?
Is the Problem the Player or the Coach?
Will Investors Bail Me Out?
The Value of Actually Getting Paid
Why do Founders Suck at Asking for Help?
Wait a Minute before Giving Away Equity
You Only Think You Work Hard
SMALL is the New Big — Embracing Efficiency in the Age of AI
The 9 Best Growth Agencies for Startups
This is BOOTSTRAPPED — 3 Strategies to Build Your Startup Without Funding
Never Share Your Net Worth
A Steady Hand in the Middle of the Storm
Risk it All vs Steady Paycheck
How About a Startup that Just Makes Money?
How to Recruit a Rockstar Advisor
Why Having Zero Experience is a Huge Asset
My Competitor Got Funded — Am I Screwed?
The Hidden Treasure of Failed Startups
If It Makes Money, It Makes Sense
Why do VCs Keep Giving Failed Founders Money?
$10K Per Month isn't Just Revenue — It's Life Support
The Ridiculous Spectrum of Investor Feedback
Startup CEOs Aren't Really CEOs
Series A, B, C, D, and E Funding: How It Works
Best Pitch Decks Ever: The Most Successful Fundraising Pitches You Need to Know
When to Raise Funds
Why Aren't Investors Responding to Me?
Should I Regret Not Raising Capital?
Unemployment Cases — Why I LOOOOOVE To Win Them So Much.
How Much to Pay Yourself
Heat-Seeking Missile: WePay’s Journey to Product-Market Fit — Interview with Rich Aberman, Co-Founder of Wepay
The R&D technique for startups: Rip off & Duplicate
Why Some Startups Win.
Chapter #1: First Steps To Validate Your Business Idea
Product Users, Not Ideas, Will Determine Your Startup’s Fate
Drop Your Free Tier
Your Advisors Are Probably Wrong
Growth Isn't Always Good
How to Shut Down Gracefully
How Does My Startup Get Acquired?
Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?
How to Pick the Wrong Co-Founder
Staying Small While Going Big
Investors are NOT on Our Side of the Table
Who am I Really Competing Against?
Why Can't Founders Replace Themselves?
Actually, We Have Plenty of Time
Quitting vs Letting Go
How Startups Actually Get Bought
What if I'm Building the Wrong Product?
Are Founders Driven by Fear or Greed?
Why I'm Either Working or Feeling Guilty
Startup Financial Assumptions
Why Every Kid Should be a Startup Founder
We Only Have to be Right Once
If a Startup Sinks, Founders Go Down With it
Founder Success: We Need a Strict Definition of Personal Success
Is Quiet Quitting a Problem at Startup Companies?
Founder Exits are Hard Work and Good Fortune, Not "Good Luck"
Finalizing Startup Projections
All Founders are Beloved In Good Times
Our Startup Culture of Entitlement
The Bullshit Case for Raising Capital
How do We Manage Our Founder Flaws?
What If my plan for retirement is "never retire"?
Startup Failure is just One Chapter in Founder Life
6 Similarities between Startup Founders and Pro Athletes
All Founders Make Bad Decisions — and That's OK
Startup Board Negotiations: How do I tell the board I need a new deal?
Founder Sacrifice — At What Point Have I Gone Too Far?
Youth Entrepreneurship: Can Middle Schoolers be Founders?
Living the Founder Legend Isn't so Fun
Why Do VC Funded Startups Love "Fake Growth?"
How Should I Share My Wealth with Family?
How Many Deaths Can a Startup Survive?
This is Probably Your Last Success
Why Do We Still Have Full-Time Employees?
The Case Against Full Transparency

4 Tips for Standing Out in a Crowded Industry Space

Drew McLellan

4 Tips for Standing Out in a Crowded Industry Space

When Uber first entered the saturated world of on-demand food delivery, it wasn’t easy. Especially considering how crowded the space already is (consider Seamless, Postmates, Grubhub, and now Amazon). Still, UberEats took off, offering its menus in 120 markets around the world in just three years; it even earned more than Uber’s original ride-sharing platform.

Uber makes it look easy, right? But starting a business or transitioning into an already packed industry can be difficult, regardless of whether the company is a well-known conglomerate or a brand-new startup. To begin, business leaders should learn who their customers are — even before marketing. You’ll never attract an audience if you don’t know who your target is (or what their needs are).

That’s just the beginning. Squeezing your company into a tightly packed space also requires some flexibility. You’ll need to show customers you’re different — but not so different that you’re a shock to the system. If you’re subtle enough with your moves, customers will be delighted by your ability to meet their needs where legacy companies missed out.

If you’re a startup eager to stand out in a crowded industry, follow these tips to avoid being crowded out:

1. Hit the books. Again, you can’t go after a certain target market without knowing whom you’re targeting: What do your customers want or need? How do they communicate?

Your customers can either be your biggest warriors or your toughest detractors, so know who will be using your product or service the most. Afterward, identify problems you can solve for those customers (and which customers are most likely to be interested in your startup’s solutions).

Once you’ve studied your primary consumers, you can’t stop researching. Begin secondary research by segmenting customers and researching specific behaviors. This will provide better insights into the types of channels to use when communicating with customers, as well as the best contact times. Such personalization is a major component of customer relationship management, which is why StockBrokers.com gave Scottrade the “Best Overall Client Experience” title for five years in a row. The company’s stellar customer service, based on personalization, merited the accolade every year.

2. Keep track of news and linguistic trends. While this might sound like a continuation of research, some components involved in tracking news trends differ. First, noting industry trends, economic growth, and business shifts — whether good or bad — will keep you apprised of customer needs and keep you nimble when the market is fickle. Second, you’re not just looking for customer insights; you’re also looking for inspiration for the direction of your startup, so don’t lose sight of news from other companies, regardless of their size.

As you read more, pay attention to new terms that may surface (or old ones you haven’t seen in a while). Add them to word clouds to monitor how your industry is changing and to discern new SEO terms to use in digital marketing efforts. Finally, word clouds can also provide a clearer idea of what widespread feedback (from both employees and customers) can mean.

3. Listen to your customers. Just like any important relationship, make sure you’re not talking at your customers. In fact, CustomShow contributor Justin Croxton suggests that entrepreneurs limit discussions about themselves to just 10 percent of a conversation, focusing the other 90 percent on resolving customer issues. Directing the conversation to customer issues demonstrates your proficiency in the industry.

Speak regularly with your customers, turn their success stories into content or case studies, and (if you’re business-to-business) demonstrate how their own companies can help others in social or blog content.

4. Express curiosity in your customers’ passion. You want people to see you for more than your business card, and so do your customers. Verse yourself on their work and discuss it, even when it’s not applicable to your industry. At the very least, it shows you care about them and not the money in their pockets.

For example, Marketplace Homes did this when it first shifted into the real estate space, a $155 billion industry, and focused on new construction in Detroit, the founders’ home city. It quickly homed in on a smaller target audience made up of sellers who wanted to swap out their homes for bigger ones: an audience of just thousands of people, rather than millions. It thus sold the most new homes to “move-up” buyers in Detroit because it listened to its customers desires and moved in to meet their needs when the competition didn’t.

Industries that already seem saturated can come across as untouchable, but by zeroing in on trends and customer relationships, you can squeeze into any space and carve out a corner. Use these four moves to show customers you’re more than just another blip on the screen — you’re here, and you’re here to stay.

Find this article helpful?

This is just a small sample! Register to unlock our in-depth courses, hundreds of video courses, and a library of playbooks and articles to grow your startup fast. Let us Let us show you!

Submission confirms agreement to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Already a member? Login

No comments yet.

Start a Membership to join the discussion.

Already a member? Login

Create Free Account