How To Find Your Edge In A Saturated Market

23 comments

Updated: May 29, 2019

A product or service that becomes profitable in the market will almost always invite new players. As a business trend becomes increasingly popular, more and more enterprises tend to join the industry. And soon enough, the market becomes saturated.

If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, the high demand and profitability of such businesses are very attractive. But how do you identify if the market you’re planning to enter is already saturated?

And if so, what strategy can you use to be able to penetrate and survive this competitive atmosphere? How do you find your place in a saturated market?

Moreover, if you’re already in this successful enterprise, how do you maintain status and hold your ground amidst increasing competition? What are the necessary steps to undertake that will help sustain profitability of your business?

How do you find your edge in a market that’s tipping or has already reached saturation?

The first question we need to answer is how do you determine if the market is already saturated? Aside from conducting a comprehensive market research, these are the signs that you need to look out for:

  • More and more businesses are offering the product or service
  • It’s increasingly becoming a household name
  • The price of the product or service is decreasing
  • Innovations, cheaper alternatives and imitations of the product are coming out
  • Marketing and advertising has increased for the product or service

Whether you’re just starting out or already in the business, penetrating a saturated market and surviving amidst stiff competition takes careful planning and execution.

The following tips will offer you ideas on how to go about this:

  • Keep existing customers by rewarding loyalty
  • Explore new markets for the product or service
  • Sustain profits with new offerings related to your business
  • Reinvent or reposition the brand
  • Tap alternative distribution channels (wholesale, retail sales, affiliate programs, etc.)
  • Invest on research and develop innovations
  • Explore measures on how you can decrease prices with minimal effect on profit

Personal Case Study 1: Making Money Online Blogs

There are hundreds thousands of blogs right now that teaches how to make money online. I did some market research on this and wrote a plan on how to penetrate this saturated market.

So if I want to start a blog that teaches how to make money online, my strategy would be to choose and concentrate on a specific blogging income stream that’s not being comprehensively covered by exisiting blogs.

Currently, most make money online blogs focus on earning through affiliate marketing. There’s also a lot of blogs who teach about Google Adsense.

However, I’ve not seen a blog that talks about strategies and techniques on how you can make money from doing sponsored reviews.

Of course, there are blogs out there that earn by doing sponsored reviews. A lot of them are food, travel, beauty, and lifestyle blogs. But how exactly do you become one? How do you get those sponsored reviews?

My “make money online blog” will talk about that exactly. I’ll give tips on how to write good reviews. I can share market research tools. I can teach strategies on where and how to find clients. And many more.

Personal Case Study 2: Internet Cafe Business

The internet cafe business in the Philippines, especially in Metro Manila, is already saturated in my opinion.

Nevertheless, more and more people are still putting up this business hoping to capture the likewise increasing population of internet users and online gamers. If you’re an existing internet cafe owner, how would you sustain profitability?

First, you can increase consumer patronage by offering membership benefits to your internet cafe. Loyalty reward programs, perks and promos are viable means to keep your existing customers.

Furthermore, you can upgrade your computer specifications to stay competitive with new shops who are most likely equipped with the latest processors.

Invest on LCD monitors which are more energy efficient than CRT models. You’ll be able to cut on electrical costs and possibly maintain your current profit margins if ever you plan to lower your PC rental rates.

Explore other income avenues such as photocopying and selling electronic prepaid load. Lastly, develop your manpower. Most consumers are willing to pay a little more in exchange for better customer service.

I hope that you found these tips useful for your business. If you want more guides on how to put up a successful offline or online business, then please subscribe to Ready To Be Rich.

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Photos credit: Coby Bidwell

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23 comments

  1. You are right, i also have a make money online blogs aside from my main blog. This is nice post really. God bless buddy.

  3. Make money online blog… Hmm I have not yet one.. sometimes I tackle about make money online at my main blog that is only if some one ask for it..

    Good article here..

  4. Thanks Dexter. Yes, “make money online” is such a competitive search key phrase because a lot of bloggers talk about this. If you plan to make one yourself, I guess the best approach nowadays is to focus on a specific stream. That’s what I think.

  5. 4# The Marketer Review Sunday Carnival: May 25th 2…

    A quality carnival, this week, with lots of tips, tricks and advise and even the latest review on Problogger’s latest release….

  8. Hi Fitz, nice I like the tips you shared on how to survive a business on the competitive world they are all true to must be entreprenuers. Hope you can share to us where to go if less fortunate people here in Cebu wants to start a small business to help them finance their initial capital coz I am a Livelivelihood Skills Trainer here in Cebu City and my students needs financial support. Thank you Cecile

  9. Hi Cecile,

    Don’t worry, I’ll surely write about ways on how to raise capital for your business here in the Philippines in a few weeks. Just doing a bit more research on that subject. Thanks and I hope you can invite your students to visit my site too.

  14. Hi Fitz,

    I found your site while testing G-Lock Blog Finder. I commented on this old post because Internet café business is the subject of my niche blog. Should I say that the business is going for worse more than 1 year after you wrote this blog? Yes, that’s the truth and not in Metro-Manila alone but throughout the country.

  15. Hi EdZee, I actually run an internet cafe and I know what you mean. Unless the owner can come up with ways to evolve, then surely the business would not survive for long.

    In my case, the internet cafe is now more of a business center than a computer shop. I’ve expanded my services to desktop publishing and I also now sell office and school supplies.

    This is one strategy that internet cafe owners can do to survive.

  16. Wow! You make me laugh this morning. I had the exact some thoughts before I came over your blog. I hate the “Internet Cafe Business” too.

    Today I asked myself this question: “Is the Internet Marketing market saturated?” I come over your blog from a Google search.

    Yes, I’m trying this niche for a long time now (over 6 months) and I made 0 (zero) sales. A lot of clicks and statistics. I tried everything is the world: twitter, classified ads, adwords, CJ, Clickbank, ROIRocket and more. I thought maybe there are too many trying to do the same thing. And they are many. Maybe there is still room for new things or a new approach but the old methods don’t work anymore. For example, I tried to find on Twitter the normal people, the people that buy. I couldn’t find them. I found only Internet Marketers all over the place. All of them trying to sell you something.
    And, by the way, I’m like you. I don’t give up. Even with zero sales.

  19. I started an internet cafe in metro Manila in Jan. It started slow like all business but now after 5 months it has really taken off. Internet cafes continue to do well in the Philippines if run correctly.

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