Are you in business yet do not understand your business? Are you asking yourself, “what am I selling?” But isn’t that obvious? “I am selling groceries, wines and spirits and household goods.” A response such as this is short-sighted and dangerous for a number of reasons:
Defining your business simply in terms of the products or services it sells puts a blinker on you before you open the doors for business. It is committing the mortal sin of concentrating on what you want to sell rather that on what your customers want to buy.
A business so blandly described lumps itself with all other businesses of a similar type. Nothing will mark it out as being different from its competitors apart from its drabness!
Therefore, to be successful, there are two simple rules:
1. Define your business in terms of what our customers want to buy.
2. Be different from the competition.
Getting the first part right is to understand the reasons why people buy. Getting the second part right is a matter of researching the competition, seeing the threats and opportunities, in order for you to build a business that concentrates on your strengths and minimizes your weaknesses.
So what do customers want? The answer is relatively simple. They buy to satisfy some need or desire. Customers is motivated by the benefits of your products. So concentrate on what the product can do for the customer, rather than what it is.
Selling the benefit or the unique selling proposition is the greatest important to your customers. You need not meet your competition head on, it is very unlikely you will be able to compete in every area, rather as you should endeavor to match your strengths with the wants of a particular group of customers.
For example in my youth entrepreneur business, my USP is experiential learning by having fun. Kids learn about business by doing it, compared to some of my competitors where they teach entrepreneurship by giving lectures.
