competitive-analysis-process

name	competitive-analysis-process
argument-hint	[competitor set or market, and the decision this analysis supports]
description	Orchestrate a complete competitive analysis across six steps, from landscape to strategic direction. Use when you need the full picture, not a single scan or card.
intent	The umbrella workflow for competitive analysis: six analytical steps — landscape overview, product comparison, customer-need fulfillment, business baseline, perception and positioning, strategic direction — each grounded in named frameworks and delegated to the right investigation skill, ending in the four output artifacts that make the work actionable.
type	workflow
theme	market-intelligence
best_for	["Running a complete competitive analysis instead of a one-off scan","Sequencing the market-intelligence skills into one coherent engagement","Choosing which analytical step (and which framework) a competitive question actually needs"]
scenarios	["New fiscal year, new strategy cycle — run the full competitive analysis on our space","I've got scattered competitive research everywhere; give me the process that organizes it"]
estimated_time	1-2 weeks calendar time; each step is a 20-45 min working session

Competitive Analysis Process

Purpose

Orchestrate rigorous, repeatable competitive analysis across six analytical steps, producing four actionable output types (battle cards, comparison matrices, positioning counter-moves, threat assessments). This is the umbrella: each step names its purpose, its frameworks, and the skill that does the work — the way discovery-process orchestrates the discovery skills. Run all six for a strategy cycle; run one when a specific question walks in the door. The steps build on each other, but the sequence bends to the decision.

Input

Works best with: the market or competitor set in scope, and the decision this analysis supports — a roadmap bet, a positioning refresh, a market entry, deal defense. The decision determines which steps get depth and which get a pass. Also useful: any existing intelligence — a prior landscape scan, snapshots, battle cards, or company-intel output — so steps consume rather than repeat it.

Input supplied inline with the invocation — text after the skill name, a pasted context dump, or an appended ARGUMENTS: line — counts as answers already given. Use it; don't re-ask.

Arriving empty-handed? That works too. The workflow opens by asking what decision is on the table and what you already know, then recommends which steps to run and in what order.

Example invocation: Run the competitive analysis process on the mid-market payroll space — decision: whether we defend down-market or push up. We have last quarter's landscape scan.

Key Concepts

• Six steps, four outputs. The steps are analytical lenses; the outputs (battle cards, comparison matrices, positioning moves, threat assessments) are what sales, execs, and roadmap owners actually consume. A step that doesn't feed an output is a detour.
• Steps delegate; this skill orchestrates. Each step below names the skill that does the work. This file holds the sequence, the frameworks, and the decision points — not the research mechanics.
• Evidence discipline throughout. Every step honors the autonomous-investigation protocol (Fact/Inference/Assumption labels, real URLs, confidence stacking), drawing signals from the channels in intelligence-collection-disciplines.
• Named frameworks, cited. Each step stands on published strategy work — Porter's Five Forces, the Kano model, Jobs-to-be-Done, the Business Model Canvas, Ries & Trout positioning, Hamel & Prahalad strategic intent. The frameworks are defined where used; agents shouldn't assume prior knowledge.