1. What is the reputation of your competitors?

2. Objectives Examine reputation of competitors in the context of competition Explore the impact of competitors’ reputation on your success as an entrepreneur

3. Macroeconomic Change Entrepreneurial Motivation Entrepreneurial Behavior Industry Condition Industry Status Opportunity Identification Value Curve Competition Learning curve Complementary assets Reputation effects The Opportunity Analysis Canvas TM Entrepreneurial Mindset

4. Defining reputation effects “generally held beliefs or opinions about someone or something” Customers often prefer to: –buy from companies with which they have had a successful transaction in the past, or –companies they know well via friends, family, or branding efforts of the company.

5. Online reputation influencers Amazon.com: Consumer reviews and ratings on products provide valuable, unbiased insights into the details of likes and dislikes. Angie’s List: Membership service that compiles consumer ratings of local service companies and contractors in multiple cities across the United States. Better Business Bureau: Offers consumers and businesses resources including business and charity reviews, complaints, and a score for overall customer satisfaction. Cnet: Professional reviews of products and services are important to assess as well. Cnet is a popular review site for consumer electronics. ThomasNet: If you are competing in the manufacturing or product supply space, this directory features over 600,000 firms. It’s likely you’ll find one or more competitors here. Yelp: Representative of the many review apps/sites (mobile and online). While retailers and consumer services are most popular, a wide range of categories is available.

9. Passive competitor research Passive searching of information on an automated, ongoing basis is a very efficient means of monitoring competitors –Subscribe to your competitors’ e-mail, Facebook and other social media updates –Setup Google alerts via email on competitors –Monitor Twitter, Technorati, and Competitrak for mentions of your competitors –Consider aggregation/RSS solutions like MySyndicaat.com

10. “Reputation is the measurement of how much a community trusts you”

11. Summary Examine competitors’ reputations and identify their vulnerabilities Enter new industries and/or new markets where the reputation of existing competitors limited or irrelevant Build and manage your own reputation –Personally and at the company and product levels