What makes you unique?

Understanding your business advantage will allow you to easily answer the question that terrifies most entrepreneurs: “So what do you do?” Do you feel a little twinge in your chest every time someone asks you that? I know I did for a long time. I hear people talk a lot about finding your uniqueness, but after working with so many entrepreneurs I know that just listing what makes you unique isn’t enough.  It's to easy as entrepreneurs to look at the list and think, well, that’s not unique.

So what is your business advantage? I actually created the Decisive Business Advantage formula to help entrepreneurs figure it out. Not only do you need to make a list of your unique talents, skills, and experiences, you also have to have a feel for what your passion is because, face it, business is hard and there are going to be times you want to give up. If you aren’t passionate, it’s hard not to just give up.

Once you know your passion, a key component of your business advantage is understanding who you want to work with and what they already think they need. The problem to confront is that most entrepreneurs try to lead with what they know their ideal client needs instead of what their ideal client thinks they want. For example, one of my clients, Carol, is passionate about the music industry and is building a business teaching bands and musicians how to use social media. Carol knows that bands need to build an email marketing list and relationships on social media, but what do the bands want? They want to know how to build their fan count on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. By knowing that, Carol can start conversations about fan count and, once she has their attention, then have conversations with bands about the other things they need.

Think about a product or service you could offer based on what your ideal client thinks they need. What is it that you do that people ask you the most questions about? When you have a clear understanding of what you do, who you do it for, and what exactly they think they want, you can turn that into cash. No more working with the wrong people, doing things that you hate, trying to sell products or programs that no one purchases. You will be able to talk a language that will have your ideal clients lining up.