How to have a competitive edge in business

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You could gain a competitive edge in business by always reacting to changes quickly, by being innovative. For your business to be able to react to changes quickly, you have to be able to anticipate the change and secondly you have to be very fast at responding to changes. Forecast of how changes might occur in the market in which your business operates in could be gotten by studying past information, however market forecasts are less effective. Information from customers and suppliers are most effective. The way your business responds to changes (such as changes in taste of your customers, changes in the financial capability of your customers and others) has a great impact on your market share. If it takes your company 4 weeks to respond to a change in the market and it takes the next company 3 months or more you could gain a competitive edge cause customers might come to you first and their loyalty could be secured that way.

Another way your business can stay competitive is by being and remaining innovative. I can remember my lecturer told us about a company that introduced a wonderful technological product and made huge sales. However, competitors entered the market, observed the weaknesses of the company's product and came up with a technological product that was similar but better than theirs. The new company took over the major market share from the existing company. This happened because the existing company did not remain innovative. In other words, you have to keep improving your products to create and maintain a competitive edge. To stay innovative you will have to recruit staff members that are skilled so they can always come up with nice ideas. You will also have to develop the skills of your staff. Skills can be learnt and developed.

Everything happens according to will of Allah. Everything should be done for the sake of Allah. Part of doing something for the sake of Allah also means hoping for a reward from Him. Make sure your business is halal.

Halal means anything lawful Islamically.

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