5 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Gain a Competitive Advantage
What differentiates you from everybody else, and why should
people choose you and your business over your competitors? These are questions
you should be asking yourself on a consistent basis, and as entrepreneurs we're
always looking for ways increase our leverage.
Leverage can change your life and business, but only if you take
full advantage of it.
In this challenging new economy you need every advantage you can
get, especially in entrepreneurship and business. Gaining the competitive
advantage isn’t easy and chaos is almost guaranteed, but the upside outweighs
the tough times. Here are five fail-proof ways to gain a competitive
advantage as an entrepreneur:
1. Positioning is better than prospecting.
Everybody is looking for prospects, clients and customers.
This never-ending process will eventually burn you out, and is tough to scale.
An easier way to approach your business is to position yourself as the leading
authority, expert, specialist or trusted advisor on your
subject. This takes strategic and intentional action, but the rewards are
exponential.
When you’re perceived as the expert, people will start coming to
you vs. you chasing them. Be more elite and exclusive, and make it an honor to
work with you.
2. Plans fail, movements don’t.
Reposition your business and make it “about something.” Think
about Disney. It’s not about movies, amusement parks or cruises, the
company is where “Dreams come true.” Think about how Subway went from
being a fast-food chain to being a weight loss program.
The entrepreneurs on a mission bigger than themselves are always
attracting top tier talent. Life becomes much more fulfilling when you become
involved in a movement or a cause greater than yourself.
3. Stand on the shoulders of giants.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, and you sure as hell don’t
need to figure everything out yourself. Find something that is already working
and make it better. In an interview I did with Gary Vaynerchuk, he
said:
A penguin
cannot become a giraffe, so just be the best penguin you can be.
A smart person learns from their mistakes, as all
successful people do, but those wanting world-class results learn from other
people's mistakes so they can shorten their learning curve, and not waste
as much time.
4. Become a people developer.
One of the biggest learning curves I had to go through as a
young entrepreneur was realizing I couldn’t do it all by myself. You not only
need a solid team around you, but you need to know how to develop and lead that
team.
When you watch sports, you’ll find the most successful teams
play well together, compliment each other and have one single focus:
winning. The same goes for business and life. The people you have in your inner
circle, and those you associate with the most are your team.
Who needs to be on your team to make sure you have a “dream
team"? All successful people have mastered building teams, and have
supportive people around them that compliment their strengths and make up
for their weaknesses.
5. Create raving fans and advocates.
The likelihood of the marketplace responding because
you want something is non-existent! Business is the management of promises
and if you can consistently deliver and exceed promises for all your
customers, you’re ahead of the game. It’s much more expensive to get a new
customer than it is to take care of the ones you have.
The purpose of business is to create raving fans and advocates,
who will go out of their way to promote what you do. Not because you asked
them, but because they want to. Outstanding client support and service is
affected by every person in your organization -- from reception to the
mail room to the CEO. You must create a culture where people are passionate
about meeting the clients needs.
For more information, please comment here. ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon