Market analysis fails when you study competitors more than you study the buyer

Market analysis fails when you study competitors more than you study the buyer

It is easy to spend a week benchmarking rivals and call it market analysis. That is competitor-watching, and it quietly copies their mistakes into your plan.

Real analysis starts with the buyer: what triggers the search, what they compare, what makes them stall before paying.

Competitors matter, but only as one input. Their pricing tells you the ceiling, not your right price.

It also pays to watch the substitute nobody lists as a competitor: the spreadsheet, the intern, the do-nothing option that quietly wins more deals than any named rival.

Takeaway: map demand first, rivals second. The customer decides the market, not the loudest vendor.