Lemmings Tshirt
Have you ever noticed that society encourages us to fit in and follow everyone else and then we start a business and find that what’s actually required for success is to be the difference we truly be? The challenge is we have become so brainwashed in the meantime that working out the points of difference or unique selling proposition in our business feels impossibly difficult.
Here are three simple ways I teach business owners how to create a business that is genuinely different:
1. Be willing to have more than one unique selling proposition (USP) or point of difference – a combination of ten or more differentiating factors is sooooooo much harder for competitors to copy. (And it’s a lot more fun to talk about ten differences rather than just one – you can tailor your comments to your audience more easily.)
2. Consider your personal contribution to the solutions you are offering to your clients. What is there in your personal experience or expertise which can create possibilities that competitors just won’t see because their personal experiences are different? (I often work with highly stressed business owners – this is a direct result of teaching myself to recover from severe burn-out!)
3. Use creative thinking techniques to develop new ideas in all areas of your business. Your points of difference don’t all need to be customer facing – some of the best innovations occur behind the scenes but they create a marketable point of difference because you are raising the bar to entry in your industry.
As Mark Twain so neatly put it: 'Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.' Come play with being distinctively different at the next Revive Business Coaching Playshop and we'll discover everything that's awesome about your business! If you can't be there in person, the detailed Playbook and recording will be available for purchase after the event!
Share your thoughts below: "What is the most challenging part of creating a distinctively different and profitable business for you?"
Comments
For me, the most challenging part of being different is without question, the evils of self-doubt. I can come up with a gloriously creative way of communicating a particular aspect of my business but that can get squished very rapidly if I don't get immediately positive feedback from others. All sorts of questions (will people get it? Will it work? and more) can cripple me at times.