Business can fill us up with so many questions that we, quite frankly, have no answers to. Not only can this cause us to question our motives for actually being in business but with no answers, can, in some circumstances, have us close our business down.
In my opinion, there are 3 questions that we should be asking ourselves, the answers to which will not only allow us to articulate our business better but also act as the backbone to our marketing and client retention activities.
By this question we are trying to define what we stand for, what is this business about, our values, our core principles etc. Why is this important, well as one person once said, having values and principles are more important than what they actually are. They are the glue that holds everything else together. They are the fabric of your business, things that you will never compromise on.
Think, if a prospect comes into your business and is shall we say, less than ethical, would you want to deal with them. Are there attributes that EVERY client must have in order to do business with you or are you happy just to take money from anyone? This is not about taking the moral high ground, it is about staking your claim on those things that you hold dear, that regardless of the money that is up for grabs, you refuse to move on because once you do, there is no going back!
2. Why Do We Do What We Do
In his book Start With Why, Simon Sinek postulates that almost every business can articulate What they do, some can even tell you How they do it – your Unique Selling Proposition or Value Proposition but very few can tell you Why they do it and isn’t to make money or a profit, that is a result!
As a business owner I am sure you could have chosen any number of things to do – but – you chose this one..why?
We are often asked, with our experience in the Corporate world why did we give that up and start a Business Coaching practice! It would be easy to say that – well, our backgrounds were perfectly suited of this kind of work, but that isn’t WHY we do it. We do it because of something deeper. It is a ‘need’ within us to want to help business owners have better businesses and not just for business sake! We want them to have better lives, more time with family doing the things they love and having a more profitable, better run business will help them do that!
So…WHY do YOU do what you do?
3. Why should Anyone Care
This is possibly the hardest question to answer of all three. Why? because it pre-supposes that we already know what everyone else thinks, which of course we don’t or that we are so ‘tuned’ into the market that there is NO way they wouldn’t care about what we offer or what we do.
The reality is that most businesses focus on the what they deliver as a service versus the result that service provides to the client. The reality is that NOONE actually cares what you do, WE only care about how you can help us overcome a challenge in our lives whether it be business or personal – I only want the solution.
Want to grow profits – here is how you do it! Want more time back – here is a great time management exercise! Want to develop better teams – here is a Leadership course to go on etc etc etc.
Stop thinking about what you do and get to the result! But don’t stop there – you need to be able to show HOW this will improve your life, your business, your health etc etc.
Is it easy – NO! is it essential – YES!
Take a look at the companies that OWN their respective markets – Apple, Nike, Walmart! Look at individuals who have led with nothing more than an idea or as in MLK’s way – A Dream! Look at the ‘Wright Brothers’ – who wanted to change the world and knew by conquering the issue of powered flight, knew they could!
All of those mentioned above were able to not only ask these questions, but answer them and articulate them to the world.
Ask these 3 questions and you will see a way to not only differentiate yourself, but also attract the clients you want and give yourself and your business new purpose!
STRATEGIES4SUCCESS 
