Companies that compete in the market often have an inherent advantage over others planning to enter the market. This edge results from the market entry barriers that the new entrant will encounter Understanding the entry barriers present in a product-market is important both to incumbents and to potential competitors. Entry barrier analysis includes (!) identifying the barriers and their relative importance, (2) estimating the effect of the barriers on entry at different stages of product-market maturity, and (3) recognizing how entry barriers vary in different product-markets (e.g., consumer and industrial products).