Enhancing Your Innovate UK Smart Grant Application: Adding a Competitive Analysis to Your Appendix

In our previous post, we discussed the importance of creating a compelling appendix for the "Your idea and innovation" question (Q4) in your Innovate UK Smart Grant application. Today, we're expanding on that advice by recommending the addition of a comprehensive competitor analysis table to further strengthen your application.

Why Include a Competitor Analysis?

A well-crafted competitor analysis demonstrates your deep understanding of the market landscape and clearly illustrates how your innovation stands out. This can be a powerful tool to convince assessors of the uniqueness and potential impact of your project.

Creating Your Competitor Analysis Table

To help you create this table, we've developed a prompt that generates a detailed competitor analysis based on your input. Here's how to use it:

1. Gather Competitor Information:

Use Perplexity AI to research your competitors. For each competitor, use the following prompt:

Please write about how this [company] delivers its service or it's product. 
Note I'm asking as part of studying how they differ from a competitor with this [executive summary], so if the company has several kinds of offerings or customer segments or industries concentrate in your answer on the segment, industry or offering relevant to the competitor with this [executive summary]
---
[company]  WRITE COMPETITOR NAME
[executive summary] PASTE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2. Use the Competitor Analysis Table Prompt:

Once you have gathered information on your company and competitors, you're ready to use our prompt to generate the table. To do this, you'll need to paste the following elements into the designated areas of the prompt:

1. Your answer to Question 4 ("Your idea and innovation")

2. Your company's executive summary

3. The information about each competitor that you gathered from Perplexity

   
   

Make sure to format each section correctly within the prompt brackets. After inputting all the required information, run the prompt through an AI model like ChatGPT or Claude to generate your competitor analysis table. Here's where you can find the prompt:

### Prompt Title: Creating a Detailed Competitor Analysis Table for Innovation Grant Application

**Objective:**
Develop a comprehensive competitor analysis table that compares your company to five competitors, highlighting competitive dimensions, advantages, disadvantages, key USPs, and competitor risks.

**Input Parameters:**
1. **Executive Summary:** A brief overview of your company and project.
2. **Idea and Innovation:** Description of the idea and innovation, and why it is game-changing.
3. **Competitor Information:**
- **Competitor 1:** Detailed information about the first competitor.
- **Competitor 2:** Detailed information about the second competitor.
- **Competitor 3:** Detailed information about the third competitor.
- **Competitor 4:** Detailed information about the fourth competitor.
- **Competitor 5:** Detailed information about the fifth competitor.

**Output Format:**
Create a table with the provided headers, ensuring the first row is about your company. Use only the information provided in the parameters and leave fields empty if there is no information.

**Task Instructions:**
1. **Review Input Parameters:** Thoroughly read the executive summary, idea and innovation, and competitor information to understand the project's scope, objectives, and competitive landscape.
2. **Plan Competitive Dimensions:**
- Identify and plan between 3 to 5 key competitive dimensions that are relevant to your project and industry.
- Ensure these dimensions are meaningful and will provide valuable insight into the competitive landscape.
3. **Construct the Table:**
- Populate each row with accurate and specific information based on the provided inputs.
- Ensure that each entry is clear, concise, and relevant to the grant application.
- Do not invent any answers. Use only the provided information. If no information write '-'. If competitor paramter empty, do not write about it. 
4. **Only write the table:**
- No introdution
- No Summary
- No reference to the guidelines in this prompt

**Table Structure:**
| **Company** | **Location** | **Advantages** | **Disadvantages** | **Competitive Dimension 1** | **Competitive Dimension 2** | **Competitive Dimension 3** | **Competitive Dimension 4** | **Competitive Dimension 5** | **Key USPs of Solution over Competitor** | **Competitor Risk** |
|-------------|--------------|----------------|-------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------|---------------------|
| **Your Company** | [Location] | [Advantages] | [Disadvantages] | [Competitive Dimension 1] | [Competitive Dimension 2] | [Competitive Dimension 3] | [Competitive Dimension 4] | [Competitive Dimension 5] | [Key USPs of Solution over Competitor] | [Competitor Risk] |
| **Competitor 1** | [Location] | [Advantages] | [Disadvantages] | [Competitive Dimension 1] | [Competitive Dimension 2] | [Competitive Dimension 3] | [Competitive Dimension 4] | [Competitive Dimension 5] | [Key USPs of Solution over Competitor] | [Competitor Risk] |
| **Competitor 2** | [Location] | [Advantages] | [Disadvantages] | [Competitive Dimension 1] | [Competitive Dimension 2] | [Competitive Dimension 3] | [Competitive Dimension 4] | [Competitive Dimension 5] | [Key USPs of Solution over Competitor] | [Competitor Risk] |
| **Competitor 3** | [Location] | [Advantages] | [Disadvantages] | [Competitive Dimension 1] | [Competitive Dimension 2] | [Competitive Dimension 3] | [Competitive Dimension 4] | [Competitive Dimension 5] | [Key USPs of Solution over Competitor] | [Competitor Risk] |
| **Competitor 4** | [Location] | [Advantages] | [Disadvantages] | [Competitive Dimension 1] | [Competitive Dimension 2] | [Competitive Dimension 3] | [Competitive Dimension 4] | [Competitive Dimension 5] | [Key USPs of Solution over Competitor] | [Competitor Risk] |
| **Competitor 5** | [Location] | [Advantages] | [Disadvantages] | [Competitive Dimension 1] | [Competitive Dimension 2] | [Competitive Dimension 3] | [Competitive Dimension 4] | [Competitive Dimension 5] | [Key USPs of Solution over Competitor] | [Competitor Risk] |

**Prompt Execution:**
As an experienced Grant Proposal Writer, use the executive summary, idea and innovation, and competitor information to populate the table with accurate and relevant information. Ensure the table highlights the strengths and weaknesses of your company and competitors, focusing on key competitive dimensions and unique selling propositions.
[Executive Summary] PASTE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY [/Executive Summary]
[Idea and Innovation] PASTE ANSWER TO Q4 [/Idea and Innovation]
[Competitor 1] PASTE COMP 1 INFO FROM PERPLEXITY [/Competitor 1]
[Competitor 2] PASTE COMP 2 INFO FROM PERPLEXITY [/Competitor 2]
[Competitor 3] PASTE COMP 3 INFO FROM PERPLEXITY [/Competitor 3]
[Competitor 4] PASTE COMP 4 INFO FROM PERPLEXITY [/Competitor 4]
[Competitor 5] PASTE COMP 5 INFO FROM PERPLEXITY [/Competitor 5]")

3. Review and Refine:

After generating the table, review it for accuracy and relevance. Make any necessary adjustments to ensure it aligns with your overall application narrative.

What If There's No Direct Competition?

In some cases, your innovation might be so novel that there are no direct competitors. If this is the case, we recommend using an alternate prompt that focuses on comparing your approach to the current state-of-the-art solutions. Here's how to use it:

1. Research the Current Approach:

Use Perplexity AI to gather information on the current approach to solving the problem your innovation addresses. Use this prompt:

Please write about the current state approach as I'm studying a company with this [executive summary] PASTE YOUR EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2. Use the Alternate Prompt:

Once you have gathered all the necessary information, you're ready to use our alternate prompt to generate a comparison table. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Locate the alternate prompt (provided below).

2. Copy your company's executive summary and paste it between the [Executive Summary] tags.

3. Paste the information about the current approach that you obtained from Perplexity between the [Current Approach] tags.

4. Copy your answer to Question 4 ("Your idea and innovation") and paste it between the [Idea and Innovation] tags.

5. Insert your answer to Question 6 regarding the potential market between the [Potential Market] tags.

6. Finally, paste your answer to Question 7 about impact and benefits between the [Impact and Benefits] tags.

   
   

After inputting all the required information in the correct sections, run the prompt through an AI model like ChatGPT or Claude to generate your comparison table. This table will effectively highlight how your innovative approach differs from and improves upon the current state-of-the-art solutions, even in the absence of direct competitors.

### Prompt Title: Creating a Detailed Analysis Table for Innovation Grant Application
**Objective:**
Develop a comprehensive analysis table that compares the market need, current approach, and the innovative approach of your company. This table will help highlight the key differentiators and potential impact of your project.

**Input Parameters:**
- **[Executive Summary]:** A brief overview of your company and project.
- **[Current Approach]:** A detailed description of the current approach being taken by your company.
- **[Idea and Innovation]:** Description of the idea and innovation, and why it is game-changing.
- **[Potential Market]:** Description of the potential market for the innovation.
- **[Impact and Benefits]:** Explanation of the project's impact and benefits.

**Output Format:**
Create a table that includes rows for Market Need, Current Approach, Limitations of Existing Approaches, Our Innovative Approach, Key Differentiators, Potential Impact, and Barriers to Entry for Future Competitors.

**Task Instructions:**
1. **Review Input Parameters:** Thoroughly read the executive summary, current approach, idea and innovation, potential market, and impact and benefits to understand the project's scope, objectives, and strategic direction.
2. **Construct the Table:**
- Populate each row with detailed and specific information based on the provided inputs.
- Ensure that each entry is clear, concise, and relevant to the grant application.
- Be detailed in the writing of the current approach and limitations.
3. **Focus on Key Points:**
- Highlight the market need and why it is significant.
- Compare the current approach and its limitations.
- Emphasize your innovative approach and how it addresses the limitations of existing solutions.
- Identify key differentiators that set your approach apart from competitors.
- Discuss the potential impact of your project on the market or industry.
- Outline barriers to entry that future competitors might face.
4. **Only write the table:**
- No introdution
- No Summary
- No reference to the guidelines in this prompt
5. **Only write about Compeittors with provided information:**
- If compeittor information is not provided in the text paramter, then do not write the row about the compeittor in the table

- this means DO NOT write rows that all have -
- FOR EXAMPLEL: DO NOT WRITE ROWS LIKE THIS: | **Competitor 5** | - | - | - | - | - | - | - 

**Prompt Execution:**
As an experienced Grant Proposal Writer, use the executive summary, current approach, idea and innovation, potential market, and impact and benefits to populate the table with accurate and compelling information. Ensure that the table highlights the strengths of your project and aligns with the criteria of the grant application.
[Executive Summary] PASTE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY [/Executive Summary]
[Current Approach] PASTE INFO FROM PERPLEXITY [Current Approach]
[Idea and Innovation] PASTE ANSWER TO Q4 [/Idea and Innovation]
[Potential Market] PASTE ANSWER TO Q6 [Potential Market]
[Impact and Benefits] PASTE ANSWER TO Q7 [Impact and Benefits]

By including this competitive analysis in your appendix, you're providing assessors with a clear, visual representation of how your innovation stands out in the market. This can significantly strengthen your case for funding and demonstrate the game-changing potential of your project.

Remember, while AI tools like Perplexity and our prompts can provide valuable insights and structure, it's crucial to review and refine the output to ensure it accurately represents your innovation and aligns with your overall application strategy.