#localcompetition

Searching the internet about potential competitors offering South Indian cuisine gave me a long list, from which I will be highlighting about the top three to discuss about local competition. The three competitors I will be discussing about are – Guru Lukshmi, Anna Lakshmi and Magadhi. My findings are as given below:

Competitor #1: Guru Lukshmi

This is a very popular South Indian vegetarian outlet with an awesome menu and mouth-watering delicacies. Their website is very engaging with details for each item on the menu and gets us hooked to their signature dishes from the very start. The products are very well priced and there is variety thereby catering to everyone’s tastes and needs - from an adult to a child. The staff is very well-trained in handling delicate situations making it a good experience for the customers mostly. They have a strong social media presence with testimonials from their previous customers on their website and Instagram pages that interests anyone browsing their website.

Though we have fewer weaknesses they are hard to overlook. The popularity of the brand among the crowd implies long waiting times which are way too long that you lose the interest and cramped spaces to move in add to the woes. In a bid to cater to many customers, the people dining in are hurried up during peak hours. Their online delivery system is not properly handled leading to chaos, confusion and delayed deliveries most of the times. I think I can cash in on this disadvantage and make my takeaway prompt and quick.

One can visit their website www.gurulukshmi.com

Competitor #2 – Anna Lakshmi

This is a strategically located vegetarian outlet which is easily accessible to the potential customers. They have an appealing website with not just details about the items on the menu but also pictorial representations for each item making it very unique and easily understandable. The products are well priced – it is a perfect value for money proposition. It is spacious with a very good ambience giving an upscale look. The reviews on internet piques the interest of potential customers wanting to try out their traditional cuisine at least once.

On the other hand, though the food service is quick the quality of food served is not that great and portions in takeaway are way too less. The staff is ill-informed and not trained properly leading to many unwarranted discussions with clients. A communication gap between the kitchen staff and waiters leads to mess up of orders among clients especially during peak hours. Like Competitor #1, they are not able to balance between dine-in and online takeaway orders with staff not well-equipped to handle the situations and answer client queries regarding the same.

You can visit their website www.annalakshmi.ca

Competitor #3: Magadhi

This is an authentic traditional outlet with a variety on their menu. The food is amazing, customers usually wanting to try out more dishes on their menu. The products are priced well as per the market standards. It is spacious with a calm ambience. The food service is very quick and customer service is good as the staff keeps the clients engaged and well-informed about their orders. The staff is courteous and well-trained and handle both dine-in and takeaways efficiently.

The major drawback with this competitor is that though the product speaks for itself, they are not marketed properly. They have a very poor social media presence. They have very few reviews on the internet which may not interest potential customers unless someone really wants to go in and try it out for themselves. The menu has a lot of variety as mentioned earlier but the menu looks cramped and any client new to the cuisine itself will have difficulty in understanding what services they offer. From this, it is very clear that social media plays a major role in drawing in customers for a business. I will use this to my advantage and be very active on social media and market my business idea across all platforms so that I can get a foothold in the already established industry.

Pie In The Sky

Strength 

photos are beautifully done 

Information is short and to the point 

Easy to navigate 

Pop up for 10% off is right off the and asking for email to stay connected 

Made a post about when the breads will drop on social media but no follow up 

You can read their story  

Weakness 

Some of the text is not easy to read

there is not a section for their breads on the website. It’s listed but nothing more 

You would only know they have sourdough daily by going in store 

There’s no pricing online about their breads they focus more on the fruit and baked goods

Social media presence is not constant

Still no pricing anywhere, other then in store

Their online presence does not makes you want to visit or really bring you back into their store or website 

Blackbird Baking Company 

Strength

catchy slogan on the home page

Social media presence is active and fun to scroll through, does make you want to visit them 

Weakness

website is not user friendly, did not like it at all. Would actually not purchase from them because of it

Every link you open opens either email or Dropbox you can’t just browse

Pricing not easy to find 

No pictures or showcase of their breads or their story

Cobbs Bread 

Strengths 

breads are the first thing you see

Website is user friendly 

Easy reading and warm welcoming colours 

Highlight features breads and new flavours 

Ask to stay connected right away with discount codes

They have many locations and they make it easy to find the closest to you through their website 

Social media presence is active and inviting  

Weakness

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there many bakery that sell in store or deliver, however there are only few actual home bakers that I found from my search, however most large or small store front bakeries started from their home kitchen to selling to people around them to having bakery shop, which I understand we all have to start somewhere.

For my local competition I found this there bakers, one use Facebook account as a direct contact with their customer and promote, and two of them have evolved to much bigger bakery and offer delivery with in the city and one even nation wide.

 Heather's Homemade Baked Goods: she does not have an official website, but fully contact to her customers and promote her product though her Facebook account, with 200 followers, heather mostly sell her baked good in her local farmers market @cobourgfarmersmarket

I thought her porch delivery Idea goes well with our current pandemic situation. The price goes from average $2 to $8 per piece, of course it all depends on which baked good that people order, like cookies, cake, pie and so on, Heather takes special occasion order, such as birthday,  I could not find her price for the bigger order on her Facebook account, which I assumed its based on the order type and size.

Prairie Girl bakery : is one of those bakeries who believe in offering the customers the best test and mange to do everything from the scratch, also if their customer is not happy with order they got, they are willing to give full refund and replace the order. Prairie girl bakery logo scream cupcake and sweet, with their colorful logo, it easy to attract anyone with sweet tooth. The price range from $2 per cupcake to $32 to 6inch homemade style cake and $48 for 9 inch cake.

The owner, Jean Blacklock, is from Saskatoon, proud of her Prairie roots.

Sweet flour: Kim Gans, has always been inspired by her mom baking and fall in love with it all, she want to share it with entire country, started her business by selling cookies on her front lawn to team of two, has now expanded into 30+ in-house bakers, which is very inspiring. Sweet flour is specializing in cookie & cookie dough and offer delivery across Canada.

With the idea of starting a photography business there is a lot of competition out there, even big companies such as Walmart and their photo studio. With living in Newmarket area I did some research on photographers that were part of a much smaller company that offered similar ideas to mine. Heres what I found: 

1) “The Loft”  http://www.theloftstudio.ca/hire-the-loft#who-are-we

This company has a very “simple” and easy to use website that links to their social media which shows that the company is incorporating social media into their business in the same way my business is. The services that they offer include similar services as mine and provide a personal one on one experience. However the website itself may be considered too simple as all that is listed is their services and the photographers themselves. Nothing about pricing or what their goal as a business is. 

2) “Three Treasures”  http://www.threetreasures.ca/index2.php?v=v1#!/HOME

This business is based solely on family and children/newborn pictures which is something that my business also offers. Their website was very informative and provided all the necessary details you would need to understand how the business works and the pricing. One thing that i noticed that i thought was a good idea was that beside each service it has the price and approx. how long the session would take. However as a photography company I would think that there would be more actual photography incorporated into their website and less full pages of text. 

3) http://www.marandaelyssephotography.com/blog/category/family/

This business is very similar to mine as this business is run by “Maranda Elysse” and is much more of a “one man run team”. Her website has information on what kind of photography she offers and even includes past sessions so you are able to see what kind of thing you are hiring her for. The website provides alot of information and photo evidence of these sessions but there is no pricing or approx time each session will take.  I also thought the website lacked any connection to Social Media and in this society I believe social media is a huge part of everyday life now and as a business I think its important to advertise your products over social media. 

Living in a small town with more than three dance schools/lessons means there’s a lot of local competition. One of the bigger studios in town is Tapps, its been operating for over 15 years and is still doing well. The studio offers Kinder-dance, Jazz, Tap, Acro, Hip Hop, Ballet, Musical Theatre, Lyrical and Contemporary.

There are some negative reviews from former clients about the cleanliness of the studio space and absent teachers but also some reviews about great teachers.

Tapps social media is updated weekly to bi-weekly with studio updates and pictures. It also says they reply to messages typically within a day.

The Dance Space is another local competitor in town. The dance styles they offer are Tap, Lyrical, Jazz, Hip Hop, Acro, Modern and Kinder-dance. The Dance Space is fairly new as they are only in their second year of business.

As it is a newer studio there are not many reviews yet to tell how the studio is doing so far. However, I did see some comments/posts about a lot of classes being cancelled.

Their social media doesn’t seem to be the best, it isn’t updated very often which wouldn’t be helpful for anyone that goes to or is looking to go to the studio. Their Facebook massager says they usually reply within a day to any messages.

Another bigger dance studio is Mariposa Dance Company.Jazz, Tap, Acro, Ballet, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, Kinder-dance, Lyrical, Contemporary, and Zumba are the dance styles offered at the studio. Mariposahas been open and running for the past 15 years and is still continuing to grow every year.

From the reviews that I read they all were positive, I didn’t come across any negative ones. The reviews I read were about the friendly and supporting instructors and about the good training their dancers received from the studio.

Their social media is updated weekly with studio information from their clients to keep them updated with everything that is happening at the studio.

Mariposa Dance Company also says they are ADAPT certified and offer Jazz and Tap ADAPT exams.