market-gap-analysis

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

Segment	Size	Growth	Competition	Fit
Enterprise	$2B	12%	High	Medium
SMB	$800M	18%	Medium	High
Developer tools	$500M	25%	Low	High
Education	$300M	8%	Low	Medium

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 Type	Description	Signal
Feature gap	Missing capability	Feature requests, workarounds
Segment gap	Unserved customer type	Forums, job boards, community
Price gap	No option at price point	Customer complaints, DIY solutions
Integration gap	Missing connection	Stack compatibility issues
Quality gap	Poor existing solutions	Low satisfaction, high churn
Geography gap	Unserved region	Language/compliance gaps

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

Opportunity	Impact (1-10)	Confidence (1-10)	Ease (1-10)	Score
Developer API	9	7	5	7.0
Mobile app	6	8	3	5.7
Enterprise SSO	8	9	7	8.0
Free tier	7	6	8	7.0

Score = (Impact + Confidence + Ease) / 3

RICE Framework

Opportunity	Reach	Impact	Confidence	Effort	Score
Developer API	500	3	80%	3 months	400
Mobile app	2000	1	60%	6 months	200

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

Strategy	When	Example
Head-to-head	Strong differentiator	Better UX than market leader
Niche focus	Underserved segment	"Built specifically for..."
Blue ocean	Category creation	New category definition
Platform play	Ecosystem potential	Extensibility as moat
Price disruption	Overpriced market	Free/open-source alternative

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