The three determinants of achieving a competitive advantage are, benefit, target market and competition (Amadeo, 2019).
Benefits: The small- scale businesses have to provide products and services that should be according to the needs of the customers. Customers prefer a particular retail store when they are given deals and discounts. People alsogenerally prefer stores which are easily accessible. Therefore, catering to the needs of the customers can give a competitive advantage to that business.
Target market: It is necessary for the businesses to accommodate to the needs of the regular customers. By keeping products that are in demand or products that make life easy, these businesses can increase their profitability.
Competition: Identifying real competitors is necessary for a business to improve themselves, increasing the competitive advantage.

It is important to measure the financial status of the business, the internal business process, analysing and listing the areas of growth and evaluating the customer perspective on the business. By doing this as part of the study, the researcher can increase the ability to innovate in a business and provide positive results in the financial performance of the business.

Financial: The sales, expenditure and income are analysed to understand financial performance of a business.
Internal Business Process: This is the evaluation of the performance of the business as a whole. This includes customer service, product availability and the employee- employer relationship.
Learning and Growth: This is the evaluation of the effectiveness of the employees, and how well they work. This can positively affect the competitive advantage.
Customer Perspective: Customer satisfaction is necessary for the business to gain an advantage in the market.