Market Gap Analysis

Identify underserved markets and competitive positioning opportunities through systematic analysis.

Analysis Framework

Market Scan → Competitor Map → Gap Identification → Opportunity Scoring → Strategy
     │              │                  │                    │              │
     │              │                  │                    │              └─ Positioning
     │              │                  │                    └─ Prioritized gaps
     │              │                  └─ Unserved/underserved areas
     │              └─ Feature/capability matrix
     └─ Total landscape understanding

Market Scanning

TAM/SAM/SOM Analysis

## Market Size

### Total Addressable Market (TAM)
- Market: {broad market definition}
- Size: ${amount} ({year})
- Growth: {CAGR}%
- Source: {citation}

### Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM)
- Segment: {specific segment you can reach}
- Size: ${amount}
- Criteria: {geographic, demographic, or technical constraints}

### Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM)
- Realistic capture: ${amount} over {timeframe}
- Assumptions: {market share %, conversion rates}

Market Segmentation

Competitive Landscape

Feature Matrix

| Capability | Us | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C |
|------------|:--:|:-----------:|:-----------:|:-----------:|
| Core feature 1 | ● | ● | ◐ | ○ |
| Core feature 2 | ● | ○ | ● | ● |
| Feature 3 | ◐ | ● | ○ | ○ |
| Feature 4 | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| Integration X | ● | ◐ | ● | ○ |

● = Full support  ◐ = Partial  ○ = None

Positioning Map

        High Price
            │
    Enterprise │ Premium
    Solutions  │ Tools
            │
Low ────────┼──────── High
Innovation  │         Innovation
            │
    Legacy   │ Open Source /
    Tools    │ Community
            │
        Low Price

Competitor Profiles

## {Competitor Name}

**Positioning:** {one-sentence positioning}
**Target:** {primary customer segment}
**Pricing:** {model and range}
**Strengths:** {2-3 key strengths}
**Weaknesses:** {2-3 key weaknesses}
**Recent moves:** {latest product/market changes}
**Threat level:** High / Medium / Low

Gap Identification

Gap Types

Gap Discovery Methods

### Direct Research
- Customer interviews (5-10 per segment)
- Support ticket analysis (top 20 requests)
- Feature request boards (competitor and own)
- App store reviews (1-star and 3-star)

### Indirect Research
- Job postings (what tools are companies hiring for?)
- Stack Overflow questions (what problems remain unsolved?)
- Reddit/community forums (what workarounds exist?)
- Conference talks (what problems are speakers addressing?)

Opportunity Scoring

ICE Framework

Score = (Impact + Confidence + Ease) / 3

RICE Framework

Score = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort

Positioning Strategy

Positioning Statement Template

For {target customer}
who {need/problem},
{product name} is a {category}
that {key benefit}.
Unlike {primary competitor},
we {key differentiator}.

Strategic Options

SWOT Analysis

| | Positive | Negative |
|---|---------|----------|
| **Internal** | **Strengths** | **Weaknesses** |
| | • {strength 1} | • {weakness 1} |
| | • {strength 2} | • {weakness 2} |
| **External** | **Opportunities** | **Threats** |
| | • {opportunity 1} | • {threat 1} |
| | • {opportunity 2} | • {threat 2} |

Anti-Patterns

• Analysis paralysis — Set a time-box; analysis that delays action costs more than imperfect analysis
• Competitor obsession — Focus on customer needs, not competitor features
• Confirmation bias — Seek disconfirming evidence, not just supporting data
• Static analysis — Markets change; revisit quarterly
• Ignoring indirect competitors — Spreadsheets, manual processes, and "do nothing" are competitors
• Feature parity as strategy — Matching competitors feature-for-feature is not differentiation