You may call it your niche, unique selling proposition, or your unique contributions. Whatever name you give it, you need to be able to identify and define your unique contribution to be successful. I believe that every serious business owner starts out as an entrepreneur wanting to help others and contribute to the community in a meaningful way. This contribution is at the heart of your niche or unique selling proposition.
What You Need to Find Success
What makes businesses succeed is pretty simple: you need paying customers. Of course, every business owner knows it’s not really that easy. To have paying customers, you must first have a clear idea who your perfect customers are and why they would choose to do business with you. Trying to bring in new business without first uncovering who your customers are is nearly impossible. However, it’s even more challenging to unearth who these customers are without a clear understanding of your unique contributions.
A Crowded Marketplace
It’s easy for some to fall into the trap of thinking that there’s just too much competition to carve out your own set of best customers. The truth is that there is room for everyone to be successful if you’re clear about what makes you unique and how you stand apart from the competition.
Think about how many hair salons, realtors, lawyers, dentists, accountants, grocery stores, and mattress stores are in each community. Just 30 years ago, you patronized who was in your community or by searching the yellow pages. Today, thanks to technology, businesses can be found at your fingertips. However, this also means that you have more competitors and that the competition has expanded to well beyond your immediate community, and even beyond the surrounding communities. It can even be worldwide!
In this crazy, busy world that we live in, why should a potential customer consider doing business with you instead of the competition?
Sell Yourself First
Before you can identify your best customers and convince them to choose you over the competition, you must first discover and clearly articulate those reasons for yourself. To begin exploring those reasons, start by going back to the very beginning. What contribution to the community brought you to entrepreneurship in the first place? Are you taking a stand about or against something? What do you want to be known for?
You may have already spent a great deal of time thinking and planning for the products or services you will offer, what price point will make sense, how to organize starting capital, and a hundred other details. When we go down that path, it’s easy to get lost in the details because they are necessary in the long run. The problem arises when we try to identify our unique contributions using those details instead of returning to our hearts and remembering what drove us to take the very first step toward starting a business.
When you know your unique contribution, you’ll have a message that is clear, concise, and compelling about the value that you bring to the table. You will have a business that is driven by a purpose that you believe in, and you’ll be guided to make decisions based on what matters to your business success.
I can help you clarify what your unique contributions are by casting back and rediscovering what brought you to entrepreneurship in the first place. Then, I’ll show you how to use that to differentiate yourself in the marketplace and create a successful direction for your business.
