I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
No Competition
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If you're wondering whether I'm still experiencing Games On Olympics fever, you bet I am! In high school, I was selected as the captain of the girl's swim team. Why did my teammates select me? It's not because I was the fastest swimmer on the team. It's not because I won or placed more than my teammates in our competitions. It's not even because I was the only member who could swim the butterfly, making me essential to our competitive standing. It's because I put my all into our practice sessions and focused on continually beating my own time and performance. This inspired my teammates and motivated them to do their best even though we were often swimming against better teams, loaded with Junior Olympians, which, to be honest, was kind of demoralizing. The truth is, I never really enjoyed the competitive meets, but, man-o-man, I loved our practice sessions. So, when I got voted team captain I was shocked. In part, because I had no idea that what I was doing was meaningful to my teammates. Even in business today, the competition is something I give very little thought to, and it's something I advise my clients and students to do as well. Often, in the early days of business, we base a lot of our decisions on what our perceived competition is doing: What they're offering, what they're charging, how they're marketing and selling. But, this only serves to limit our thinking and our impact. The truth is, we're not just competing with the folks who do what we do. We're competing with all the possible options out there for our audience's attention and investment. Is it important to do competitive analysis? 100%. You should know what's going on and what is and isn't working and why. But, for many small businesses, our clients aren't choosing us based on a one-to-one comparison with our competitors. They're choosing us because of the emotional connection, trust, and gut-level resonance we're able to establish. In other words, it's because of how we make them feel. At their core, buying decisions are emotional. While it's common for people to say they base their decisions on 'the facts,' research says otherwise. Many consumers don't even realize that by the time they're drawing up their pros and cons list, they're already predisposed toward a specific choice. So, the question isn't how you stack up to the competition but how you establish yourself in customers' hearts and minds as the one to beat from the get-go. Let me know if you need some help figuring this out. Until next time, Your success is our strategy!No longer want to receive my newsletter but don't want to miss my special offers and announcements? Click here. |
Easily Said & Done
I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Hi Reader, This fall my mom was diagnosed with mild-to-moderate dementia. While sad, it did not come as a surprise. It's one reason I sold her house and we moved in together late last summer. At first, I planned outings to the Y and other senior programs, scheduled visits from family and friends, coordinated physical therapy appointments, and designed little daily activities to keep her engaged and stimulated. This winter it's gotten harder and harder to get mom out of bed let alone dressed...
Honestly, I was going to writing about something else for my first missive of the new year, but I don’t want to add my voice to those trying to normalize what is not normal. I don’t know about you, but it’s very hard to shut out what’s going on and focus on my to-do list these days. Especially, when every item seems trite and pointless against the much larger issues hitting the news feeds multiple times a day. It’s more than a lot. It’s way too much. So today my message is simple: Take care...
Right now, there's a consumer 'blackout' movement afoot to, basically, stop buying stuff for the entirety of the Black Friday weekend from corporations. This isn't just happening in the USA, but also in Canada, as a way to protest the current economic climate and policies that are making the wealthy wealthier and squeezing every penny out of the rest of us. Don't forget, there's still active consumer protests against Target, Home Depot, and Amazon, among others, as well. In other words, it...