Know your business

In order to GROW your business successfully, you need to KNOW your business and what your offer means to your customers.

This might seem an odd thing to say. After all who knows your business better than you?

But you’d be surprised at how many business owners and managers cannot define what they offer, who their target market is, what they are good at and what they are not so good at.

You need to be really clear about what your business offers its target market. It is not just about the product or service you sell, but the value you add to the lives of your clients.

If you are an insurance broker…

You don’t just provide insurance; you give peace of mind, risk management advice, financial security in the event of a crisis, claims handling service, professional guidance...

A car salesman…

You don’t just sell cars; you offer a means of transport, safety, freedom of movement, status, sex appeal...

An orange juice seller…

You don’t just provide orange juice; you offer a great source of vitamin C, a way to help people get their 5-a-day, a refreshing drink, an alternative to fruit...

You should not only know your business and what product or service you sell, but also, what this means to the client – what need does it satisfy? What experience do your clients get when they buy a product or service from you? How does what you do differ from your competition?

If you don’t know this then you will not know what buttons to press when it comes to marketing yourself. Customers are not interested in you per se, they are interested in what you can do for them.

If you are focused on what you do, you should find the exercise of defining what your business does easy. If you have to spend a lot of time thinking about it, you are not as focused as you should be and it will be time well spent.

This can be called a brand. Click here if you’d like to explore branding for a small business more.