There is a place where many entrepreneurs, (maybe you) and even global corporations who look like they have got it all together, (maybe yours), get stuck when trying to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. They hit a wall when they begin to articulate what’s unique about what they do and why it should matter to their customers. The reason they get stuck is because they’re starting in the wrong place—by trying to find the words before they work on the understanding.

Difference doesn’t manifest in well-crafted descriptions, value propositions and vision statements that live in A4 files or posters in the sales department. Differentiation isn’t just described or articulated, it’s perceived and felt.

Re-arranging the words that describe you isn’t going to get you to where you want to go.
You need to dig deeper.

And sometimes even when we do know what makes us different we are afraid to own and communicate it. We’re afraid to stand out for being good at that thing that we’re good at, in the precise way that we are good, just in case that’s not enough for everyone. We get scared about putting hearts on business book covers or we worry that choosing to be small on purpose makes us less, when it probably makes us more (maybe even the best driving school in Perth).

The irony is that not being enough for everyone means you’re exactly right for the people who matter. Separating yourself from the pack starts by knowing what you’re proud to stand for and owning it. Once you do that the words will come.

Image by oddharmonic.