Planning With A Heart

What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)? (Also called a UVP—Unique Value Proposition.)

This is very closely related to the last blog I wrote about scoping out your competition. It’s also akin to the “elevator speech.”

Here’s the game: When someone asks you, “What do you do?” you want to have a ready answer that succinctly tells them the essence of your offer (product or service) and gets them to engage in a conversation.

Your USP is also a way to establish brand identity. For example, “Just Do It!” (Nike) or “When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight.” (Fedex) It’s the reason some customers will buy from you and nobody else.

Here’s a little history from wikipedia.org:

The Unique Selling Proposition (also Unique Selling Point or USP) is a marketing concept that was first proposed as a theory to explain a pattern among successful advertising campaigns of the early 1940s. It states that such campaigns made unique propositions to the customer and that this convinced them to switch brands. The term was invented by Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates & Company. Today the term is used in other fields or just casually to refer to any aspect of an object that differentiates it from similar objects.

According to Scott Sedwick of Hyperformance Media (http://www.hyperformancemedia.com/USP.htm)

The task of coming up with a USP can sometimes be tough. But every company needs to do this, it sets you apart from your competitors . . . it is one or more reasons why prospects should work with you, or buy from you, or do business with you, instead of your competitors, period.

If you’re struggling to come up with your USP, here’s a suggestion. Sit down with your team and brainstorm. Write down all the characteristics of your buyers that you can think of. Now use that list to identify the core problem that your product or service satisfies for these buyers. Now write a short sentence or phrase expressing how your solution solves that problem. Voilà! USP!

A lot of times, when someone starts a business, they think they are so unique that they have no competition. Wrong answer!

Here’s a clue:

One of the most important things you must do for your business is figure out what the conventional business model is in your industry. By business model, I mean, how does anyone make money, and hopefully profit, from doing what you do?

If you own a bakery, for example, figure out how other bakeries make money selling bread. What are the costs? What price do they sell at? How much profit is normal in the bakery business?

When I was a counselor for SCORE, I always recommended that people considering starting a business should go and interview the five most successful people in their area who ran similar businesses.

If your business does not market locally, use the internet. Find business models, or even business plans, for a typical business in your industry. Put together a profile of the competition.

When defining competition, it is sometimes not enough to look at businesses selling the same product. A key question to ask is, who else is competing for the time and dollars of your target market. For example, Starbucks caters to the young, working professional. What are their alternatives to visiting Starbucks? They could go to another coffee shop. They could go to a juice bar. They could meet in a restaurant. They could skip coffee altogether and switch to designer water!

Almost every industry has an association. This is a great source of information about the industry, and often has already done the competitive analysis.

If you are going for outside investors to help start your business (or even if you aren’t,) you should know their key concerns. One of the questions they will ask you is how you will make money in your business, faster, smarter, better than anyone else?

Here’s a saying to think about:

“Good artists borrow. Great artists steal!”

You know, it’s amazing, when you ask someone what they do, the wide variety of responses you get.

Your mission statement (akin to your “elevator speech”) should be a clear, concise statement of your central reason for being. Like, “we empower people to live their dreams.” It should be succinct enough to not bore anyone and strong enough to arouse the curious to ask for more. (Like, “how do you do that?”)

One powerful way to write a mission statement is to begin in the future.

That’s right, I said, “in the future.” This is called “future pacing.” Imagine the future where your project is successful.

Create a clear, concise picture of that compelling future. And I do mean picture! The best way to do this is with crayons and newsprint. Second best is to cut pictures out of a magazine and paste them on poster board.

There’s a funny thing about how your brain operates. Your subconscious mind (the part of you that communicates with the Universal Principal, and makes your conscious mind aware of opportunities,) communicates in pictures.

However, at a certain point, when you have saturated yourself with images, ideas, thought clusters, pictures, symbols, your mind then makes the switch to language, and out pops a mission statement!

When you do this kind of exercise, keep in mind that you are creating the seed of a future reality. You have literally tapped into the future to see it as it really is. Let its power take hold. Let it thrill you and delight you.

Share it with others judiciously. Don’t be stopped by negative reactions or questions of “how?”

You might want to create a Corporate Vision Statement. Be creative and colorful in this document. Use photographs of your team, graphics, and illustrations as well as text. Create a document that you will be proud to share with others.

This can be a powerful magnet for attracting whatever resources you need next, team members, contacts, or whatever else you need.

This document will become the cornerstone of your business plan. Continue working on it after writing your initial draft until you are completely satisfied that it conveys the energy and power of what your team has collectively envisioned as reality.

SNEAK PEEK: One of the reasons I’ve slowed down in posting these blogs is that I’m working on an online version of my entire business planning seminar. Watch for future announcements.

My Mission Statement: To empower entrepreneurs everywhere!

My Compelling Future: Hundreds of thousands of successful entrepreneurs connected through the Planning With A Heart network who are profiting from businesses they are passionate about and are changing the lives of millions of customers in the process.

Take a step to prepare yourself and purchase “Planning With A Heart” NOW!

I just made this video for you to learn more about the creation process – how we get from our ideas to the reality of “open for business.”

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Happy creating!

Every business, indeed, every thing, that exists on this planet, started as an idea.

I had an idea just the other day. The trouble is, most people don’t act on their ideas and they remain just that – ideas.

Here’s a clue. I believe, that if you have an idea to do something it is because you are uniquely qualified to bring that idea to fruition. For some of you, that may be a radical thought. You immediately start putting yourself down and saying, ‘not me, there’s nothing special about me.’

Oh, but there is. There’s something special about each of us. I believe all of us were put on this planet to learn about how to create on the physical plane.

If you look at the world today, most people are engaged in some kind of business (commerce, trade, barter, exchange, production, craft, cultivation, etc.) for the majority of their working hours. (How we got here and why that’s so is another story.)

Anyhow, the process of creation starts with ideas!

If you’ve seen, or read, The Secret, you know something about this process already.

So let’s explore this more deeply. What are ideas and where do they come from?

I was talking to someone the other day, and I mentioned that from the “discovery” (invention?) of the first “tool” (was it a rock or a stick?), mankind has been continually improving on technology to make our lives easier, more enjoyable, more fulfilling.

So one source of ideas is what already exists, and where there’s a need to fill.

Another place where people get business ideas from is things they already love to do. I’m a great cook. People are always telling me I should open a restaurant. (I also think I could do stand-up comedy.)

If you’re thinking about a business idea, one of the first things I tell my clients is go interview five people in your community who own the most successful businesses doing what you want to do. Learn from them. Learn what they love, learn the pitfalls, learn the process. Get help! Get mentored!

The most important thing about exploring your idea (and by the way, that is taking action!) is to flesh it out as fully as possible before you invest a lot of money. Learning the pitfalls, challenges, processes, as well as the profitability can save you a lot of heartache (and money) later on.

One of the first things investors will ask you is, “how can you do your business faster, better, smarter than anyone else.”

Once you have your idea fully fleshed out, you’re pretty far along in writing a business plan!

Now you can start market testing, and getting real-time feedback about your potential success. (More about this in a future blog.)

However, there’s also a big psychological component you must deal with.

Anytime anyone starts something new, they are outside of their comfort zone, and all of their fears (of the unknown, of failure, etc.) come rushing at them and try to stop them. These must also be dealt with.

The Planning With A Heart™ process helps you address these essential steps to success as well.

Take a moment to click on the link to get your Free “Entrepreneur Quiz” to discover if you have the mind set it takes to start your own successful business.

Ideas Blossom into successful Businesses

Have you ever thought about starting your own business? Lots of people have, but fewer actually do so.

Perhaps you were an entrepreneur from the get-go. As a child, you had a paper route, sold stuff door-to-door, mowed lawns, washed cars, baby sat for your neighbors. As you grew older, you were encouraged to, “got to school, get a good education, get a job.” Maybe your entrepreneurial aspirations hadn’t gelled yet, so you followed the normal course.

Now, perhaps, you’re at a point in your life where it’s time to do something different.

According to the most current BLS information, the unemployment rate has increased to 9.9% nationwide in April, 2010, meaning that approximately 15.3 million people who would like to work are unable to find jobs. An additional 9.2 million people are working part time because their hours were cut back or they were unable to find full-time work. Finally, there are 1.2 million “discouraged” workers who have ceased looking for a job altogether.

Here is some equally interesting data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Of the approximately 23.3 million business firms that are currently active, approximately 17.6 million, or nearly three quarters have no payroll. (Translate, no employees.) According to the research, “Most are self-employed persons operating unincorporated businesses, and may or may not be the owner’s principal source of income.” That was in 2004, the most recent year data is available. Further, an additional 5.8 million businesses that did have payroll have under 100 employees – the SBA’s definition of small business.

Last bunch of numbers: new job formation. March, 2010 saw 162,000 new jobs created. Where did these jobs come from? Historically, the majority have been associated with new business start-ups and small business hiring.

So what does this mean for the ordinary mortal who is still struggling to make ends meet, or sitting at a desk day after day doing a job he or she hates.

If you’ve ever had a dream, a desire, to make a difference in the world, now is the time to do it! What I’m trying to show from all these statistics is that the efforts of a single individual, or a small group of individuals do make a difference.

I’m reminded of the famous quote from Marianne Williamson:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

(from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles)

I’ve told clients for years, that if you have an idea (for a business), then it has been given to you because you are the one who is uniquely qualified and positioned to bring it into fruition. So if ever you’ve dreamed, now is the time to get up off your chair and just do it!

We live in troubled times. Even though many analysts suggest that the recession is over, unemployment still remains at 9.7% nationwide. That means over fifteen million people are still without gainful employment. That’s a lot of folks, folks.

Did you ever stop to think what unemployment really means? What do people do when they’re unemployed, under-employed, or have just plain given up?

When the going gets tough, the tough get going!

What I mean is, most people are entrepreneurial to one degree or another. They pick up things on the side. They work “under the table.” They pick up odd jobs. They start online businesses. They become involved in network marketing. All of these are essentially entrepreneurial activities.

What I mean by entrepreneurship is “bringing together resources for productive activity.”

According to Malcolm Gladwell, best-selling author and trend spotter:

“Great entrepreneurs are not visionaries or risk takers — they just have better economic modeling skills than the rest of us.”

That means being able to see an opportunity, perceive a need in the marketplace, and predict, with a reasonable degree of certainty, how to capitalize on that opportunity and profit. [Read more]

So, why start a business today?

Small business is always a key element in economic recovery.

Small businesses create jobs, starting with your own. But it’s not just about starting a business because you can’t find a job.

Small businesses express the inherent creativity in the human soul, our desire to express ourselves, even leave a legacy.

Starting a business is fundamentally about expressing yourself fully and making a meaningful contribution to society.

It’s time to stop asking, “What’s in it for me?” and to be begin asking, “How can I help others?”

One of my favorite mentors Barry Spilchuk used to say, “Getting Is Very Easy.” GIVE!

This website is dedicated to entrepreneurs everywhere.

Remember the 1997 Apple Video “Think Different”?

The text says:
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the trouble makers, the round pegs in the square holes. They are not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them, because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

This could well be written of entrepreneurs.  It is a well-known fact that more new jobs are created by small businesses (translate entrepreneurs).  Entrepreneurs are the risk takers.

I’ve been saying for a long time that entrepreneurship is the survival skill of the twenty-first century.  What I mean is we can no longer rely on existing institutions to “save” us.  We must learn how to save ourselves, to become responsible for creating our own livelihood.

If you’ve found this blog, you’re probably already interested in starting your own business, or perhaps you already have.  If you’re at the beginning stages, someone has probably told you that you need a business plan.

A business plan is simply a specific, detailed description of what it is you want to create.

Perhaps you’ve heard that all things are created twice – once as an idea, and then again in physical form.  In order to get past the idea stage into physical reality, you must have a blueprint.

There are a lot of people out there who will tell you how to write a business plan.  Actually, I’m one.  Most people will give you an outline to start from, or some software where you fill in the blank.  They’ll ask you question after question and tell you how to get organized.

The problem I have with a lot of these well-meaning folks is that virtually no one thinks in a straight line.  No one has all the answers before they start.

What you’ll discover in Planning With A Heart is a process of “uncovery.”   What I mean is that as you delve deeper and deeper into your idea, your market, your competition, you’ll uncover the true path to follow.  You’ll find that your heart will lead you.