Tweet

What Is Your One Thing?

Written by: Ingrid Cliff

Article Overview: Your business has one thing that makes it unique against all other businesses – no other business in the world has this one thing. Your business has one thing that can make or break its success in the blink of an eye – no other business can get the same results without this one thing

What Is Your One Thing?

Your business has one thing that makes it unique against all other businesses – no other business in the world has this one thing.

Your business has one thing that can make or break its success in the blink of an eye – no other business can get the same results without this one thing.

What is the one thing … You!

You and your business are inseparably linked. Some people liken starting a business to giving birth to a child – except in most cases the business child is a small clone of you.

Your business is a direct reflection of you - mirroring your personal productivity and success. Your personal strengths are where your business is strong and your personal weaknesses are where your business is weak.

Are you a big picture thinker? Then you may find details will slip through the cracks and follow-up and follow-through are not your strong points. Are you great on detail? Then you may get caught up in the rat race of busyness – constantly doing but not growing.

Are you a great networker – constantly giving referrals? Then you may find you give too much and receive too little. Do you prefer to work on your own? Then you may be missing business opportunities that come from strategic alliances.

Are you the ultimate multi-tasker – working on your supermum tag? Then you may be wasting time doing things you are not good at and cutting into precious moments in areas you are passionate about.

You wouldn’t think twice about calling a plumber to help fix a blocked drain, why when we are a business mum do we balk at asking for help with our business?

By knowing your personal strengths and challenges, you will identify where you need to focus your energies in your business. You will know which pieces of the business you may need to outsource to people such as virtual assistants or copywriters (if you need help with the detail) or business coaches (if you need help with the big picture) or consultants (to help with systems).

By knowing your personal strengths you will also be able to more easily identify your business’s unique selling proposition. In marketing, we help people to identify what is unique about their business and use that in our advertising copy to help sell the business.

But … many businesses struggle with identifying their USP. In writing I prefer to start with identifying the ISP – or individual strong points for the business owner.

When you know your ISP then the USP is easy. For example – if one of your ISPs is big picture thinking - one of your USPs could be that you always think outside the square for your customers. If an ISP is detail – your USP is that every I is dotted and every t crossed in providing a service to your customer.

By focusing inwards for a moment, then focusing outwards on your business comes a whole lot easier.

So, where are you holding your business back?

Stop and reflect for a moment on your business. Which of your weaknesses are affecting your business? If a task is not a strength for you – find another way to do it or get someone else to help you.

Knowing when to ask for help – that is a real strength that will help you succeed faster than going it alone.

Related Articles
  Do Just One Thing Better Than Anyone
  Did you start today with the M-I-T?
  Communication
  The Difference Between Winning the Deal & Losing the Deal
  Top Ten Reasons to Write Down Your Life Vision Today

Article Tags: big picture, blink of an eye, business coaches, business opportunities, busyness, copywriters, giving birth, multi tasker, networker, personal productivity, personal strengths, personal weaknesses, plumber, precious moments, rat race, strategic alliances, strong points, thinker, virtual assistants, wasting time



Related Forum Posts
Books that should be written - [quote:1m0dcpd7]"The Idiots Guide To Sticking With One Thing At A Time and Not Doing Something New All The Time" [/quote:1m0dcpd7] I myself am a 'constructive' procrastinator... I don't know if I'm alone in this. I have about six or seven projects I'm working on at any given time. I get one project almost done... then my interest is piqued by another project and I work on that... I get burnt out and move to another...I know I do this so I have it arranged such that once I get bored or burnt out with one project, I can step right back into project 1 - or 2 or 3, and get that a little bit more done before moving on to something else. As long as you're organized and know where all your reference material/idea sheets are when you're ready to get back to work on each project, it should be fine. I also find that by stepping away from a project - I still work on it in the recesses of my mind so that when I go back to it - it's with some good ideas that I wouldn't have had if I'd continued on with it originally. Maybe I should write a book on how to Procrastinate Constructively... I've actually thought about doing that...because most people procrastinate, don't they...and very few are ever able to stop.
Re: Who hates cold calling? - Have to say, cold calling is about 40% of my daily job. So calling up prospects these days is a walk in the park. However, it took me a long time before I was half decent at it. These days I'm quite effective. I tend to stick to the same guidelines. In a way, these guidelines have helped my career in a way. Firstly, I wouldn't dream of picking up the phone unless I knew my product. I'd hate to get caught out on a simple objections. Secondly, when I call up I ask for the decision maker. If they're not available, (in a meeting, out of the office) I will never pitch the person who takes my call. Normally its the secretary. I'll just say 'no problem, when would you recommend be the best time to catch him?' Thirdly, listen - listen- and listen. In the early days I used to talk over the prospect, and end up wondering why they often said no. Anyway, hope it helps. It's a bit of a knack but anyone can get it. There's a newsletter I've belonged to for a long while and they send you all types of stuff on cold calling. Thing is I've forgotten what its called. I'll have to check my emails and let you know.
My reading log - Hi OmnivoreInk, Before starting my business, I read the following books as research: -"The Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki -"The AdSense Code" by Joel Comm -"Don't Think Pink" and "Mind Your X's and Y's" by Lisa Johnson And since then I've continued my "research" by reading (in this order): -"Technical Tennis" by Rod Cross -"For One More Day" by Mitch Albom -"The Twits" by Roald Dahl -"Little Black Book of Connections" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne -"The Profitable Retailer" by Doug Fleener -"Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell -"Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" by C.S. Lewis -"Little Green Book of Getting Your Way" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling And I'm currently reading and am in the process of finishing the following: -"There's No Such Thing as Public Speaking" by Jeanette and Roy Henderson -"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell -"The Book of Tells" by Peter Collett -"Little Red Book of Sales Answers" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience" by Jonathan M. Tisch -"The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity" by Julia Cameron -"The Inner Game of Tennis" by Timothy Gallwey
The Way We Were - You have to be middle aged or older to get this but I thought I would share it with you and it's all about [color=#008000:22uc7wu6]THE GREEN THING[/color:22uc7wu6] The Green Thing In the line at the supermarket, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day." The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment." He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the shop or off licence. They sent them back to the plant to be washed, sterilized and refilled and re-used. So it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn't have lifts and escalators in every shop and office building. We walked to the local shops and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go to a supermarket. We bought fruit and veg loose - and washed them at home. We didn't have to throw away bins full of plastic, foam and paper packaging that need huge recycling plants fed by monster trucks all day, everyday. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby's nappies (diapers) because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down (mostly hand made or hand knitted) clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing shipped from the other side of the planet. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day. Back then shops repaired things with funny things called spare parts - we didn't need to throw whole items away because a small part failed. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of Wales. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power and hand clippers for the hedges. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a brightly lit, air conditioned health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity and then drink millions of bottles of that special water from those plastic bottles. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a plastic cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new plastic pen, and we replaced blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole plastic razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their parents into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest Macdonalds. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then? ------------------------------------------------------------ regards, Mal.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Ten Things You Can Do To Be a Better Leader

Common Sense Stress Management

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.