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31 Comments

How are you different from your competitors?

Being different from competitors is the cornerstone of excellent positioning.

So, how are you different?

  1. 5

    https://www.globalchemistry.org/

    My competitors are other chemical databases. Getting folk to use mine based off data that is open and curated by the community.

    That's my major selling point because I don't have financial resources to go up against some of these companies my best bet is to create bonafide trust amongst the people and develop an open source product that stands above theirs.

    1. 1

      loved your answer!

  2. 3

    I wonder if you have to be different from competitors to succeed these days? 🤔

    There are a lot of the same services like:

    • Taxis: uber, get, yango, etc..
    • Food order: UberEat, Wolt, etc..

    They all do the same and share the same market but still make a lot of money :)

    1. 2

      If the market is commoditized, that's true. Users will prefer the solution with the best price.

      But if the market is not that saturated, unique positioning is crucial IMO

      1. 1

        Honestly not only price. UberEats, Grubhub and postmates mainly niche down tbh. The 3 niches at surface level is:

        1. Speed
        2. Price
        3. Exclusive

        An exclusive famous and in-demand restaurant at any app will draw customers no matter the price.

      2. 1

        Today for each product/idea you have 10+- similar ones,
        What is unique in your point of view, is doing the same product but with better UI/UX is unique? or doing the same product but doing better marketing?

  3. 3

    EmailOctopus - We primarily have competed on price, we work out around 60% cheaper than our competitors.

    1. 1

      I love this type of success stories.

      Because it goes against conventional startup wisdom.

      And you still succeeded despite what the "experts" say.

    2. 1

      oh, interesting!

      I heard pricing is not the best differentiation, but it looks like it's working for you 👍

      1. 4

        Yep and I've never understood that point. It's worked well across multiple industries historically, from airlines (Ryanair) through to Supermarkets (Aldi).

        1. 1

          I am also trying to find a pricing that leaves a bit on the table for the customer since I don't have a large sales department that can convince them. You can always increase price when you have customers and find the sweet spot.

  4. 2

    I offer everything I make in one price, one time. Competitors offer individual courses for a charge. But this will change over time as I make more stuff that is sold separately more and more. The Lifetime price is going up all the time as I add more products.

  5. 2

    ERA - The Markdown Note-Taking Tool For Developers is made purely for developers and according to their needs. It is focused on privacy (no sync to our servers) and has a super simple UI. It is a desktop app (Windows/Linux/MacOS) which is also different to a lot of competitors.

    We are still in beta and a lot of new features and improvments are coming over the next months, so we are still lacking in some point but with the plans on our roadmap, we have a lot of differences compared to our competitors.

    1. 2

      well said, Alex 🔥

  6. 2

    For MakerBox: focus on Indie Entrepreneurs and actionable format.

    Our Competitors usually create educational marketing content for VC-backed startups. They assume big budgets and huge marketing teams.

    Moreover, it's usually an online video course. And, frankly, we are all tired of this format. Notion workbooks are more effective for busy Founders.

    Pumped to read more answers 😎

  7. 1

    BoldDesk is a help desk software and we are entering a very crowded market.

    We primarily focused on providing value for the pricing (Unlimited agents with flat fee) that we offer. It’s slowly picking up now.

  8. 1

    usemagnetiq.com

    Magnetiq is a one stop digital marketing platform for non-marketers, allowing users to create compelling ad creatives and manage their digital ads effectively across channels.

    How we differentiate ourselves from our competitors? By putting our target persona into the core of our business. We are focused on building our product strictly towards our persona and their needs, and aim to be the go to address for non-marketers on their digital marketing journey.

  9. 1

    "The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time."

    Before launching our software🚀 we tried dozens of similar products in the niche. We identified the main weaknesses of our competitors and deftly cut through them like a surgeon with a scalpel. As a result, Saldo Finance has become the perfect financial tool that brings you peace of mind and confidence in your budget.

    With Saldo Finance, you no longer have to write down every dollar you spend. The app automatically syncs data from all your accounts and virtual wallets (yes, even including your Bitcoin wallet). Just set limits on total spending or a couple of categories you want to keep track of. Control your personal, corporate, or family budget as you wish. Share access with your partners and achieve financial goals together. With us, you'll finally be freed of money anxiety, as well as annoying ads and endless "special offer" banners.

    So, if we go back to how we are different from others, let us emphasize that we are not different. We are unique, and it is proven by the trust of our users :) We are the kind of company never stops caring about its customers, constantly improving its products.

  10. 1

    That's a good question. Each of us has our strengths and weaknesses and a great understanding of ourselves is the key to a strong personal brand. The same parallel can be drawn among companies. It seemed that young, inexperienced companies have no prospects and will not gain popularity for a long time. However, it is just the opposite. The emphasis on strengths makes such projects winners. For example, SlotoGate https://slotogate.com/. I like to watch how they develop.

  11. 1

    So far what worked for me is by offering a free feature that competitors charge, and then monetize through different parts (another feature, services, etc.).

  12. 1

    Everyone knows about Hotjar and how it has gotten to be very expensive. Hence, we are positioning ourselves to be an affordable alternative that also provides 10X more value than Hotjar.

    • Offer 6X more session recordings. No daily cap.
    • Unlimited responses for survey and feedback
    • Unlimited projects: best for digital marketing agencies
    • More than just heatmap and recording
    • Conversion funnel & form analytics (Hotjar deprecated features)
    • Event tracking, A/B testing, content personalization, analytics and more

    Read the full comparison here: Howuku vs Hotjar alternative page

  13. 1

    https://unvalidatedideas.com

    I've got the best business ideas you've ever seen shared for free. The really good stuff is in the paid letter, but people have taken and run with ideas in the free letter as well.

  14. 1

    Your competitive advantage is something that your direct competitors either can't or won't do.

    I innovate in business model, and I've been able to make it work.

    They won't copy me because they would be leaving money on the table, but because I'm the only guy doing this it's an underserved market segment.

  15. 1

    Ant Commander Pro is a file manager for developers. Most of the other file managers don't have concepts like Git, npm, Maven, packages, back-up files, .min. files, what is source code or binary.

  16. 1

    https://centsible.app/

    What differentiates my product from my competitors is the mobile focus and price.

    Centsible is an envelope budget that is built for mobile. The competition might be good, but in most cases you're asked to login on desktop to get the full experience. Plus I offer many of the features they do for less.

  17. 1

    because i'm an artist as well as a software engineer, my product is ~beautiful~ and easy to use, which sets my app apart (https://www.producthunt.com/posts/bookworm-reads)

    plus my main competitor is Goodreads whose UI is ... rough lol

  18. 1

    Current project is targeting different (niche) customers.

  19. 1

    This is a great topic. Being able to articulate how you're different and WHY THAT MATTERS is critical to getting customers. Many people forget that the second part (answer "why") is what secures the sale.

    I did this with my first company (LearnDash) by analyzing reviews of my competitors, finding gaps, and then building my offering to meet those needs.

    Actually, GapScout (my 2nd software company) is built for helping people do this exact same thing, except with AI.

  20. 1

    Https://adetokunbo.substack.com

    My newsletter focuses on people who care about climate change and how climate change affects them. My main advantage rests on creating trust in my subscribers, because when trust in my work exists, everything follows, despite the might of the competition.

  21. 1

    https://git18n.com/

    Main advantage is: ease of use and integration (and simple/cheap pricing). Most competitors requires a complex setup and UI. My project is focused on Github integration with zero config, just sign in to get started.

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