Competitor Research Template: How to Understand Your Competition Before You Build

Blockbuster knew who its competitors were. The bigger problem was that the way people rented and watched films was changing.

Netflix started with DVDs by mail, giving customers a different way to rent films without visiting a shop. It then moved further into convenience, recommendations and eventually streaming. The interesting lesson isn't simply that one company replaced another. It's that the competitive landscape changed, along with what customers expected from the experience.

That's the part of competitor research that's easy to miss.

You can know who your biggest competitors are, what they charge and what features they offer, yet still miss the bigger picture. Customers might be finding different ways to solve the same problem. A new business model might change what people expect. An alternative that doesn't look like a competitor on paper might still be competing for the same customer.

Competition changes when customers change.

For a startup, university project or small business, the useful question isn't simply "Who are my competitors?" It's "What choices does my customer already have?"

Good competitor research helps you answer that before you spend too much time building something. It gives you a clearer view of the businesses, alternatives, prices, customers and gaps already around you.

If you're starting with the wider picture, our Market Research Template can help you research the market, customer, problem, demand and existing alternatives first. Then competitor research takes you one step deeper.

Download the Competitor Research Template

Ready to start comparing your competitors?

Our free Competitor Research Template gives you a practical place to record competitor offers, customers, pricing, business models, marketing channels, customer feedback and potential gaps.

Download the free Competitor Research Template and use it alongside the research steps in this guide.

What Competitor Research Actually Means

Competitor research is often reduced to a spreadsheet with company names, prices and a list of features. That can be useful, but it only tells you part of the story.

Proper competitor research looks at how other businesses are trying to win the same customer. That means looking beyond what they sell, you want to understand who they serve, which problem they solve, how they position themselves, what they charge, how customers find them and what those customers say about the experience.

You're also looking for the things they may not be doing particularly well. A confusing pricing structure, poor onboarding or an underserved customer group could reveal something worth investigating.

This is why competitor research works well alongside market research. Your market research helps you understand the customer, problem and wider market. Competitor research then helps you see who's already operating in that space and how they're approaching it.

A founder from Startup Networks put it well in a community discussion: the spreadsheet of competitors felt reassuring to build, but it only became useful once she stopped listing who existed and started asking why customers picked one over another. That shift, from cataloguing to understanding, is really the whole point of this exercise.

Start by Finding the Right Competitors

The first competitor you find is rarely the whole picture.

If you search Google for your product category, you'll probably find businesses with strong SEO, large advertising budgets or recognisable brands. They're worth researching, but they may not be the businesses your customer actually compares you with.

Start with the problem you're trying to solve. Someone building a bookkeeping service could search for "small business bookkeeping services." They could also search for "how to manage accounts as a small business" or "alternatives to hiring a bookkeeper." Those searches can uncover software, freelancers, accountants and other solutions that a simple competitor search might miss.

Then look where your potential customers already spend time. Industry directories, LinkedIn, Reddit, specialist communities, review sites, app stores and marketplaces can all reveal businesses and alternatives worth investigating.

Once you find one relevant competitor, use it as a starting point. Look at who they compete with, who they serve, what customers say about them and how they position themselves. You don't need 50 companies to start, three to five relevant competitors, plus a few realistic alternatives, can give you enough information to spot useful patterns.

Direct Competitors vs Similar Businesses

Not every competitor will look like your business.

A direct competitor might offer almost the same product or service to the same type of customer. But your customer can often solve the same problem in several other ways.

Take a small business bookkeeping service. Its direct competitors might be other bookkeeping firms or accounting platforms such as Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent. But the alternatives could be much broader. A business owner might use Excel or Google Sheets, hire a freelance bookkeeper, ask an accountant to handle everything, manage the accounts themselves, or simply put the problem off for another month.

Those options may not look like competitors on a traditional spreadsheet. From the customer's point of view, however, they're all possible choices. The question your customer is asking is rarely "Which company sells this exact product?" It's more likely to be "How am I going to solve this problem?"

Your competitor research should therefore include both direct competitors and alternative solutions, this gives you a better idea of what customers already have available and where your business might have a reason to be chosen.

What Should You Research About Each Competitor?

Once you have a shortlist, the next challenge is knowing what to look for.

It's easy to collect company names and websites, then realise you still don't know much about how those businesses actually compete. Start with the basics, company name, website, LinkedIn page, location and a short description. This gives you enough context to understand who you're looking at.

Then move closer to the customer. Look at who they serve, what problem they solve and how similar their offer is to yours. Read their website, product pages and customer reviews rather than relying only on how the company describes itself.

Your own observations matter too. What do you like about their offer? What feels confusing, expensive or unnecessary? Most importantly, what appears to be missing?

Then investigate the commercial side. How does the business make money? What pricing model does it use? Can you find evidence of its pricing? Who are its customers? Which companies appear in its case studies?

Finally, look at how it grows. Which marketing channels does it use? Is it active on LinkedIn, investing in content, running paid advertising, building partnerships or relying on referrals?

Good competitor research separates what you know from what you assume, that distinction matters more than filling every box with an opinion.

How to Research Pricing and Business Models

Pricing can tell you a lot about how a competitor thinks about its customers.

Start by identifying the business model. Is the company selling a subscription, charging per transaction, taking a commission, offering a one-off purchase, using a freemium model or combining software with a service?

Then look at the pricing model itself. A software company might have monthly plans, while a consultancy could charge by project or day. A marketplace might take a percentage from every transaction.

Don't just record the number. Your Competitor Research Template includes an evidence-of-pricing field for a reason, record where you found the information, what plan or service it relates to and when you checked it. Pricing pages change, and some businesses only reveal their prices after a sales conversation.

It's also worth comparing what customers actually receive for the price. A cheaper competitor may offer fewer features, limited support or a self-service experience. A more expensive option might include onboarding, personal support or additional services.

You're trying to understand how each competitor turns its offer into revenue, and what customers appear to get in return, not simply who's cheapest.

Research Customers, Case Studies and Marketing

Knowing what a competitor sells is only half the picture. You also want to understand who's actually buying from them and how they reach those customers.

Start with their case studies, client lists and testimonials. These can reveal patterns that aren't always obvious from the homepage. You might find that a competitor mainly works with larger companies, focuses on one industry, or has built a strong position in a particular type of customer.

Then look at their marketing channels. Are they publishing useful content? Active on LinkedIn? Running paid advertising? Using email marketing, partnerships, events, communities or outbound sales? You don't need to copy their approach, you're trying to understand where they're finding attention and how they turn that attention into customers.

Funding and investment context can help too. A heavily funded competitor may have more resources to spend on hiring, advertising or product development, while a bootstrapped business may have built its growth around a very different model. Just be careful with the conclusions you draw, funding doesn't automatically mean a competitor has a better business, and a large client list doesn't tell you everything about customer satisfaction. Treat these details as evidence that helps explain the landscape, not as a scorecard.

What Are Competitors Missing?

This is where competitor research starts getting interesting.

After looking at several businesses, go back to one of the most useful questions in your research sheet: what's missing?

The answer might be a feature, but it could also be something less obvious. Perhaps competitors have complicated pricing, poor onboarding, limited support, or a product designed mainly for larger companies. You might notice that several customers complain about the same thing in reviews.

Look for patterns rather than isolated complaints. One negative review about customer service doesn't necessarily mean there's a major gap. If the same issue appears repeatedly across different customers and competitors, it becomes much more interesting.

You can also look for customers who appear underserved. A product might work well for established companies but be difficult for freelancers or very small businesses. A service might be available nationally but offer little support in a particular region.

A gap found after one afternoon of research is a hypothesis, not a conclusion. Take the pattern you've found and ask whether customers actually care about it, whether they'd change their current solution, and whether solving it could create a viable business opportunity.

Turn Competitor Research Into an Opportunity

Finding something your competitors are missing can feel like a breakthrough. Sometimes it is. But the next step shouldn't automatically be building a product around it.

Turn the finding into a testable hypothesis. Perhaps competitors focus on larger companies, while smaller businesses struggle with their pricing. Maybe customers want more personal support, a simpler onboarding process, or a service that works better for a specific industry.

There are several ways you might respond: serve a different customer group, solve a narrower problem, offer a simpler experience, change the pricing model, provide a different level of support, or position the business around something competitors overlook.

The important part is connecting the gap back to the customer. This is where our Value Proposition Canvas can be useful, take the problem you've spotted and test whether it actually matters to the people you want to serve.

Competitor research can show you where to look. Customer research tells you whether the opportunity is real. That distinction can save you from building something that looks different but solves a problem nobody is willing to pay to fix.

Common Competitor Research Mistakes

Only researching the biggest companies. Your most famous competitor might not be the one your target customer actually considers.

Copying instead of learning. Seeing a successful feature doesn't mean your business needs the same thing.

Treating competitor claims as facts. A company saying it has the "best service" is marketing, not evidence.

Ignoring customer reviews. Reviews can reveal problems, expectations and frustrations that a competitor's website will never mention.

Comparing only on price. Customers can choose a more expensive option because of better support, convenience, trust or results.

And perhaps the biggest mistake is researching forever. The goal isn't a perfect competitor database, it's enough evidence to make a better decision.

How to Use the Competitor Research Template

You don't need to complete the entire market in one sitting. Start with a small group of businesses and build from there.

1. Choose 3-5 relevant competitors. Include businesses that genuinely target the same customer, plus a few alternative solutions where relevant.

2. Fill in the basics. Add the company name, website, LinkedIn profile, location and a short description.

3. Compare the customer experience. Record what you like, what you don't like, how similar the business is to yours, and what appears to be missing.

4. Research the commercial model. Look at how each company makes money, how it prices its offer, and where you found evidence of that pricing.

5. Look for customer and growth evidence. Check case studies, clients, reviews, marketing channels and funding information. Separate what you can verify from your own assumptions.

6. Look for patterns. Once you've researched several companies, compare your notes. Are customers complaining about the same thing? Is one customer group being ignored? Is there a pricing or service gap?

Finally, take those findings back to potential customers and test your assumptions. The spreadsheet isn't the answer, it's a way to organise the evidence you need to make one.

Download the Competitor Research Template

Research Should Help You Make a Better Decision

Good competitor research doesn't tell you how to become another company. It helps you understand where you actually stand, who your customers could choose instead, how competitors make money, what they charge, where they find customers and where there may be gaps worth investigating.

The next step is to take those findings back to real customers and test what you've learned.

If you want a structured way to do that research, use our Competitor Research Template to compare businesses, alternatives, pricing, customers, marketing channels and potential gaps in one place. You can also build on your research with our Market Research Template and Value Proposition Canvas to connect your competitive findings with customer needs and your wider business idea.

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