| Course | BUS 484 Entrepreneurship |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 5 |
| Paper type | Competitive analysis |
| Length | About 1,163 words, 7 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 484 Module 5
Movers, Estate Sales and Adult Children With a Free Weekend: A Competitive Analysis for a Senior Move Management Company in Asheville
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
BUS 484: Entrepreneurship
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Movers, Estate Sales and Adult Children With a Free Weekend: A Competitive Analysis for a Senior Move Management Company in Asheville
Linda Harper spent fourteen years as a social worker in Asheville, North Carolina, much of it helping older adults and their families through moves into assisted living. She saw the same pattern repeatedly: a parent needed to leave a large house quickly, adult children lived far away, and nobody knew how to sort fifty years of belongings, choose what would fit in a two-room apartment, sell or donate the rest and set up the new home so it felt familiar. Harper plans to start a senior move management company that handles the whole process. Before she does, she needs to understand who she will be competing against. This paper analyzes that competition and recommends a position.
A Growing Market
Demand is rising. Census counts put Americans 65 and over at 55.8 million in 2020, up 38.6% in ten years and equal to 16.8% of all residents (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). Asheville and the surrounding mountains are popular retirement destinations, so many older residents moved there in their sixties and now face a second move without nearby family. Growth attracts competitors, however, which makes the structure of the market more important than its size.
The Five Forces in Asheville
Porter (2008) argued that an industry's profit potential is set by five forces: how much power buyers hold, how much power suppliers hold, how easily substitutes can replace the product, how readily newcomers can enter and how fiercely current firms compete. Applied to senior moves in Asheville, the forces look as follows.
Rivalry is moderate. No firm offers the full service from sorting to setting up the new home, but several offer parts of it, and they compete for the same families. The threat of new entrants is high, because starting requires little equipment and no special license in North Carolina, so a successful firm will attract imitators. The threat of substitutes is strong: adult children can take a week off, a retirement community may help with a move, and traditional movers offer packing. Buyer power is significant because families often collect several quotes and adult children compare prices online. Supplier power is moderate; Harper will subcontract heavy moving to licensed movers, and in busy months they can raise prices or delay dates.
The forces suggest that competing on price would be risky in a market with low entry barriers and strong substitutes. Profitability will depend on offering something buyers value enough not to compare on price alone.
Who Will Respond
Chen (1996) proposed that two dimensions predict how firms react to one another. Market commonality measures how much a rival's customers overlap with the new firm's, and resource similarity measures how alike their capabilities are. Rivals scoring high on both dimensions respond most often and with the most force when a newcomer arrives. For Harper, a regional senior transition franchise that serves the same families with trained staff scores high on both and is likely to cut prices or add services. Traditional movers share some customers but have different resources and are more likely to treat Harper as a referral partner. The estate sale company overlaps in market but not in resources, since it earns its money from selling contents rather than moving people.
Comparing the Alternatives
The grid compares the options a family in Asheville would consider. Ratings are based on published prices, website descriptions and conversations Harper held with eight families who recently moved a parent.
The franchise is the strongest direct competitor. Families themselves are the most common alternative and the hardest to displace, because they feel responsible for the move.
| Alternative | Scope of service | Typical cost to family | Trust and personal attention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional moving company | Packing and transport only | $2,500 to $4,500 | Professional but brief |
| Estate sale company | Sells contents after the move | Commission of 30% to 40% of sales | Limited contact with the older adult |
| Regional senior transition franchise | Sorting, packing, move and setup | $4,000 to $8,000 | High, with trained staff |
| Retirement community move coordinator | Advice and a list of vendors | Free to residents | Friendly but limited time |
| Solo professional organizer | Sorting and downsizing | $65 to $90 an hour | High but small capacity |
| Adult children doing it themselves | Whatever they can manage | Travel and time off work | Highest emotionally, often stressful |
What Eight Families Said
Harper's conversations with families who had recently moved a parent added detail the grid cannot show. Six of the eight said the hardest part was not the truck or the boxes but deciding what to keep, and four described arguments between siblings over furniture and photographs. Five had hired a traditional mover and were satisfied with the transport but said nobody helped their parent choose what would fit. Two had used the regional franchise and praised its staff, though one family found the quote higher than expected once the estate sale was added. Every family said a referral from the retirement community would have carried more weight than an online review. These comments shaped the grid's trust column and pointed toward the referral relationships discussed below.
How Rivals Might React
If Harper wins referrals from the largest retirement communities, the franchise is likely to respond, as Chen (1996) would predict, by offering community directors discounts for their residents or by sponsoring events at their buildings. Harper plans to answer with service rather than price: a written move plan for every client within a week of the first visit, a return visit about a fortnight after moving day and a short report to the community's director when the resident has settled. Traditional movers are less likely to fight and more likely to cooperate, so she will offer two of them steady subcontracted work in exchange for reserved dates during the busy summer months.
A Position That Can Last
Barney (1991) argued that resources produce lasting advantage only when they are valuable, rare, hard to imitate and not easily substituted. Price fails these tests, and so does a list of services, which any rival can copy. Harper's strongest candidates are her relationships with retirement communities, built over fourteen years of social work, and a staff trained to work with older adults who are grieving the loss of a home. Relationships with community directors are valuable because they bring referrals, rare because few competitors have them and slow to imitate because they depend on trust built over time. The franchise has trained staff but lacks her local relationships.
Conclusion
Harper's market is growing, but its structure is challenging: entry is easy, substitutes are strong, and families compare prices. The franchise is her most likely direct rival, while traditional movers can become partners. The analysis supports a position as the move partner recommended by Asheville's retirement communities, offering a full move managed by staff trained in the emotional side of downsizing. That position avoids a price war and rests on resources competitors would struggle to reproduce quickly.
References
Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108
Chen, M.-J. (1996). Competitor analysis and interfirm rivalry: Toward a theoretical integration. Academy of Management Review, 21(1), 100-134. https://doi.org/10.2307/258631
Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 78-93.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2023). U.S. older population grew from 2010 to 2020 at fastest rate since 1880 to 1890. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/05/2020-census-united-states-older-population-grew.html
Reading the BUS 484 Module 5 assignment instructions
Aspen's catalog describes BUS 484 as covering how ventures come into being and what helps them succeed, and studying competitors is a standard step before launch. The Module 5 prompt your instructor posts may name a framework; this example uses several to analyze one market. Define the market and the customer first, because competition depends on what the customer is choosing between. Include indirect competitors and the option of doing nothing, not only firms that offer the same service. Apply a recognized framework such as the five forces to explain the market's structure. Compare competitors on criteria customers care about, in a table if possible. Anticipate how rivals might react to your entry. End with a position that the venture can defend, and explain why competitors would struggle to copy it.
How this BUS 484 Module 5 example is built
The opening describes Harper's planned service and the family situations that create demand. Census counts of the older population, which reached 55.8 million in 2020, establish the market's direction. Porter's five forces are applied to Asheville: low entry barriers, strong substitutes, price-comparing buyers, moderate supplier power from movers and rivalry among firms that each offer part of the service. Chen's two dimensions sort competitors into those likely to respond and those likely to ignore a new entrant. A six-row grid compares traditional movers, an estate sale company, a regional franchise, retirement community staff, a solo organizer and family members on scope, price and trust. Barney's four tests show why referral relationships and trained staff form a defensible base, and the conclusion states the position.
Where the marks sit in the BUS 484 Module 5 rubric
A grader of a competitive analysis looks first at how fully competitors are identified, how accurately frameworks are applied, how well evidence supports the comparison and whether the strategic conclusion follows. This example names indirect competitors and the do-it-yourself option alongside direct rivals, which is where many analyses fall short. Each of Porter's five forces is applied to local facts rather than defined in the abstract. The grid compares six alternatives on four criteria, and the text explains the ratings. Porter's Harvard Business Review article, Chen's Academy of Management Review article, Barney's Journal of Management article and the Census Bureau's report on the older population support distinct points. Analytical credit comes from predicting competitor responses with Chen's framework and from choosing one position instead of claiming advantages on every dimension.
Common BUS 484 Module 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them
A frequent mistake in Module 5 is listing only businesses that look exactly like yours. Customers compare you with any way of solving their problem, including asking relatives for help, so include substitutes. Another is applying the five forces as definitions without saying whether each force is strong or weak in your market and why. Avoid competitor tables that rate your venture best on every criterion; graders read that as wishful thinking. Use prices, services and reviews you can observe, and say where your information comes from. Think about how rivals will react, since a strong incumbent may lower prices or copy a new service. Finish with a single clear position. If you cannot explain why a competitor would find your advantage hard to copy, the advantage probably needs more work before it belongs in the conclusion.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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BUS 484 Module 5 questions, answered
What does BUS 484 Module 5 usually ask for?
Aspen's BUS 484 includes competitive analysis at this stage, so a paper identifying a venture's competitors, applying a framework such as the five forces and choosing a position is typical. Your classroom prompt gives the details.
What is the difference between direct and indirect competitors?
Direct competitors offer the same service to the same customers; indirect competitors and substitutes solve the same customer problem in a different way, including doing it yourself.
What are market commonality and resource similarity?
Chen's two dimensions for comparing rivals: how much their markets overlap and how alike their resources are, which together help predict who will respond to a competitive move.
Where can I find a free BUS 484 Module 5 sample paper?
The full analysis appears above: a senior move management startup in Asheville, examined with the five forces and Chen's framework, with a six-row competitor grid and a positioning choice.
Should my venture be rated best on every criterion?
No. A credible analysis shows where competitors are stronger and chooses a position where the venture can win, which instructors find more convincing.