Isn’t having the most money in the bank or being the most profitable.
(Though it IS important to be profitable, otherwise, what’s the point?)
It isn’t working 80 hours a week until you have a heart attack.
And it definitely isn’t having the biggest marketing budget.
The secret to building a successful business is incredibly simple and yet complex.
It’s defining your positioning and by extension, your packaging. (And no, I’m not talking the pretty way physical products are packaged. I’m talking about how you bundle services, how you sell your products, and so much more).
What is positioning anyway?
In this context, I’m talking about that elusive thing that you may heard called brand strategy, positioning strategy, or it’s simplified form, the positioning statement.
When you define your position, you define:
- Who you are
- What you do
- Who you do it for
- Why they should care
When you know these with clarity, you know your position and everything starts to fall into place. If there is one secret in business, it’s that knowing your position in the marketplace gives you incredible clarity and allows you to move forward much more rapidly than you might otherwise.
It informs how you present yourself + your business, how you price, how you package, how you treat customers, what you offer, how you offer it, and well, everything!
It’s how Target is different from Wal-Mart, how Sears is different from JCPenney, how Nordstroms is different from all of these.
It’s all about zeroing in and getting crystal clear so you can give enthusiastic “YES!!!!” ‘s when right and let everything else fall away instead of getting caught up in everything that floats your way. (Which so easy to do!)
It’s the difference between being Taco Bell (who clearly knows their customers are teenage males who love Mtn Dew and tacos) and Burger King about 10 years ago (who didn’t know who their customer was and started offering TACOS! ) When you are clear, your decisions are clear. When you’re not clear, you do things that don’t make sense to your customers, turn them off, push them away, and leave you struggling. ICK!
Everything you do in your business either supports your position or breaks it down. In order to build customer trust, you want to align all of your business efforts to support your position. Without trust, you have no customers.
Which means if you have put off defining these core questions, you’re hurting your business instead of helping it. Make everything you do count for your business instead of against it.
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Need help figuring out what your position is or even getting clear on those core objectives? I’d love to talk with you and help you get the answers you need to craft a thriving business so let’s chat!
