Your Market in 5 Minutes
You know your craft. But do you know what your competitors are charging, what your customers are searching for, and where the gaps are? Claude can research your local market and give you a briefing before your coffee gets cold.
Before & After
You run a small print-on-demand apparel shop. A customer asks why your custom hoodies are $45 when "the place down the road" charges $35. You have no idea what the place down the road actually offers, what their turnaround is, or whether they're even doing the same thing. You mumble something about quality and hope they stay.
Later you spend an hour Googling competitors, get lost in their websites, and still don't have a clear picture.
Same week. You tell Claude: "Research custom apparel shops within 30 miles of [your zip]. Compare pricing, turnaround times, and what they offer that I don't." Five minutes later you have a table: 3 competitors, their price ranges, their lead times, and their gaps.
Turns out the $35 shop only does screen printing, not embroidery. You update your pitch: "We do embroidery and sublimation — they don't." Next customer who asks gets a real answer.
What You Need
- Claude Desktop installed — follow the setup guide if you haven't yet
- Your business details — what you sell, where you operate, who your customers are
- 5 minutes — that's all it takes for a first-pass market scan
Tell Claude About Your Business
Claude needs context to research effectively. Tell it:
Be specific. "I run a sign shop in Phoenix" gives Claude much more to work with than "I have a small business." The more context you give, the more useful the research.
Run the Competitor Scan
Ask Claude:
• What they offer
• Their approximate pricing (if public)
• Their turnaround time or delivery speed
• What they do that I don't
• What I do that they don't
Format it as a comparison table."
Claude searches the web, reads competitor websites, and builds the table. It's not perfect — some pricing is hidden, some sites are outdated — but it gives you a starting point you didn't have 5 minutes ago.
Run the Customer Scan
Now flip the lens. Ask Claude:
This is where the gold is. Competitor research tells you what the market offers. Customer research tells you what the market wants. The gap between those two is your opportunity.
Get the Briefing
Pull it together:
• My 3 strongest competitive advantages
• My 2 biggest gaps or vulnerabilities
• 1 opportunity nobody in my market is serving well
• A suggested one-liner I can use when a customer asks 'why you?'"
This is your market position on one page. Print it, pin it above your desk, and update it quarterly.
Save It as a Skill
Markets change. Save this as a repeatable scan:
Run it once a quarter. Markets shift, competitors come and go, and customer expectations evolve. A 5-minute scan every few months keeps you ahead of changes instead of reacting to them.
What You've Built
- A competitor comparison table you can reference in sales conversations
- Customer insight from real reviews and search behavior
- A one-page market briefing with your positioning, gaps, and opportunities
- A repeatable skill that updates your market picture in 5 minutes
Most small businesses never do formal market research because it feels like something only big companies with budgets can afford. It's not. It's a conversation with Claude and 5 minutes of your time. The owner who knows their market closes more deals — not because they're pushy, but because they can answer "why you?" with a real answer.
What's Next?
Your Business in Two Tabs
Set up the operational foundation that every other workflow builds on.
Read the GuideWant a deeper analysis with specific recommendations for your business?
Get Your Free Strategy ReportOr book a Starter Session to have someone run the research with you.
Skill: Your Market in 5 Minutes
What this is for: Walk a small business owner through using Claude to research their local competitive landscape, understand what customers want, and produce a one-page market briefing with positioning, gaps, and opportunities. No sheet setup required — this works standalone.
When to use this: When a user asks their AI assistant to help set up this workflow. The user should explicitly authorize use of this skill by referencing this page URL.