In our February 11^th, 2010 Quick Tips we presented 3 tips on improving your brand identity. Today we add four additional points to help you differentiate your business from the competition:

1.    Determine your value statement– that is, how do you improve your client/customer’s condition? If you don’t know, your clients won’t either.

2.    Establish your uniqueness, your differentiator from your key competition? And know how to prove it?

3.    Identify what is your company best at doing? Consider your service(s) in addition to your products. Also, would your employees say the same thing? Front line employees (customer facing) can support or sabotage your message.

4.    Know and accelerate what makes you different and better than your competitors specific to building and maintaining relationships with your clients/customers? (And how do you know. Saying it doesn’t make it so.)

When you answer these questions honestly and factually and when you have the evidence to support your answers, you have just made a major step forward in differentiating yourself from you competition. Why? Because in our experience most companies do not bother to truthfully answer these fundamental questions when attempting to build and heighten their brand.

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest

A study on the Economic Impact of Women-Owned Businesses (October 2009) states that approximately 8 million businesses have a women-owned majority. They employ roughly 16% of the workforce and contribute almost $3 trillion to the economy. The research findings also indicate that 28% of all businesses in the U.S. are women owned businesses; but—here’s the stinger… they generate only 4.2% of the revenues generated by U.S. businesses. More current data show that women owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of all firms. The Wall Street Journal reported (WSJ 4/21/10): “Women are as likely as men to hold advanced degrees yet continue to lag behind in pay, according to new Census data. This could explain why more women are starting their own business.

What does this mean to businesswomen?  It means that you, as a woman business owner, need to strategically establish and grow your businesses (to thrive verses just survive); and to do so, you need to be open to receiving help. You should assertively solicit guidance from those around you who have already achieved success. Experience is a good teacher; guided experience shortens the learning curve and the time to profitability and growth. You need to be proactive and diligent about your growth to gain the competitive edge.

Whether you are a corporate refugee turning budding entrepreneur (that is, leaving a corporation or large organization to venture out on your own), or are an existing small business owner—success rests on your shoulders. And, effective business management and establishing a sound business infrastructure (core to business success) may not be an inherent skill.  It comes through learning, experience, and solid guidance. There are several ways to get help, and two distinct and different approaches are to hire an expert and save yourself tremendous time, stress, mistakes and resources; or, consider partnering with someone with complementary skills to strengthen your business so you do not have to “go it alone”.

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest

A question we often get is should I go solo or should I enter into a partnership. Partnerships are powerful; unfortunately they can be powerfully good or powerfully destructive and disappointing. If you are considering a partnership, and we suggest you do, consider the eight elements of a powerful partnership as presented in Power of 2: How to Make the Most of Your Partnership at Work and in Life by Rodd Wagner and Gale Muller, Ph.D:

1. Complementary Strengths – Understand what you are good at and not so good at (see our 4/19/10 Blog) and look for a partner who has complementary strengths.
2. A Common Mission – be certain that you have a shared goal and a shared vision of your business.
3. Fairness – the doctrine of fairness is important because no one wants to feel they are being taken advantage of.
4. Trust – trust is a core element of all good relationships. If trust does not exist between the partners, the partnership will never develop.
5. Acceptance – we all see the work through our own lenses and from our perspective. Accept (and honor) that your partner may have a different perspective (And, we believe this adds value.)
6. Forgiveness – we all make mistakes; humans are imperfect. It’s important to forgive, to understand through trust that your partner has your best interest in mind.
7. Communicating – communicate and communicate often. Assumptions are deadly to partnerships, as they quickly build and run wild- and usually not in the right direction. Communication enables clarification and promotes understanding.
8. Unselfishness – great partnerships are based on mutuality– “when the natural concern for your own welfare transforms into gratification in seeing your comrade succeed”

These eight elements represent the essence of a good partnership. As you consider partnering, first see how you fair on these elements.

Copyright 2010 Kubica LaForest

Many executives believe the line that Frank Sinatra sang in New York, New York: If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere. As you may have gathered from our previous points on corporate refugees, this is not true when moving from the corporate environment to solo practice, a partnership or a small business.

Last week we discussed culture shock: how the work environment is different and how the demands on you are different. The phrase that best describes the move is – easier said than done. And why? – because we find that most  don’t take the time to see if they have the business personality to succeed in a new and different business environment.

How self-aware are you? (No this is not about self-help or getting in touch with your feelings; it’s about knowing your business personality and where and in what situations you are likely to do well. And, where you are at risk for problems.) It’s easy to say you can be a consultant, or start you own business, but if you are risk averse and have a higher need for security/stability, starting your own business may not be the best decision for you!

We all have a business personality; it’s neither positive nor negative as a stand-alone. Some people enjoy working alone and are very detailed oriented. Others are highly social and outgoing and enjoy being with people – and detail is a word they don’t even know how to spell. Businesses need both types; and they need them in the right job. You don’t want a sales person who enjoys working alone; just as you don’t want a person who is not detail oriented to be designing the space shuttle. It’s all about context. There are no good or bad business personalities, there is only a right fit or a wrong fit personality within the context of the work to be done.

If you haven’t already, before you change career direction because it “sounds good to you”, take some time to assess your business personality. It will save you time, money, and it will reduce the stress on you and those around you.

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest

On Monday, we wrote about the culture shock that can occur when leaving the corporate world. In today’s Quick Tips – Lessons form Big Business, we want to identify 5 differences you will find as you transition from a corporate environment to starting your own business:
 Behavior that was acceptable in a big corporation may not be tolerated by your prospects or clients
 Being in your own business is about being in the sales and marketing business. Checks do not show up in your bank account once a month, they are earned through your personal effort alone.
 Initially you see your entire staff in the mirror every morning – do you see a great boss or your worst boss?
 Great friends you had in the company will “move on”. They may not return your calls, nor want to spend time talking with you. Remember the comment on office politics? They will ask “what’s in it for me to talk with him/her”.
 Vendors who pampered you, won’t return your call. Now you are the
vendor.

Awareness is important. Absent awareness, you may just think that behavior that worked in the past will continue to work. We often find, it does not.

There was an interesting story in the Wall Street Journal (4/7/2010) describing GM’s culture. It’s Chairman, Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. said that one area he can make a big contribution is by “changing the company’s plodding culture”. The article relates a story of a past effort by GM to stamp out bureaucracy and ended up appointing a committee to oversee how many committee meetings should be held. Culturally ingrained habits die hard. And that’s the problem.

Big businesses have strong cultures, and often their culture is not unlike how GM’s culture is defined. Decision-making is slow; bureaucracy is high. Delegation is weak; empowerment is a word often spoken but rarely acted on. Staff do reports and run projects. Office politics sometimes trumps competence in promotions.

None of this works when starting your own business. Believing that doing what you did is the past will result in success is delusional. We once had a consultant refuse to do a task that he felt was beneath his skill level. He told us – you don’t understand, I was a Vice President. We replied – the operant word is “was”. He did not succeed as a consultant. You may feel our response was callous. It wasn’t; it was honest.

In our Quick Tips on Thursday, we will identify the differences you will find as you transition from the corporate environment to starting you own business.

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest

Our definition: A corporate refugee is an executive or high-level manager in a for profit or non-profit business who leaves the organization and considers a career as a solo practitioner or small business owner, partner, or employee.

Some leave voluntarily, some are pushed out and some are fired. One thing in common is the corporation no longer employs them and they have just entered new territory. This can be exciting; more often we find, this can be terrifying. One thing is for certain: it’s different.  And unless you understand the difference, there is a likelihood you will struggle to adapt to your new situation, and more than is necessary or healthy for you.

Some of you may wonder, what’s the big deal? (I was successful in my last job and I’ll get another one or start my own business and be successful again…) Well, the big deal is that, as Marshall Goldsmith said in the title of one of his books – What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. Not only is the business employment landscape changing, the nature of work is changing. What worked in the corporate environment (or even in a large non profit or public organization) is not likely to work (the same or at all) in solo practice or in a small business.

As you make this transition, there are four points to consider.

1. Understand the difference between corporate (or large organizational) work and solo/small business work. In the corporation you were a small part of a large whole with a specific task to do; in a solo or small business role you are a big part (or, the whole part) and your role is more general, apparent and usually more “hands on”.

2. Understand yourself. What you like to do, in which situations do you perform well, in which situations you do not perform well. Don’t delude yourself by saying such things as: “I can always consult for a while”, “Small businesses would love someone with my experience”, “I can do this job with my eyes closed”. It may be true, but in our experience it rarely is.

3. Your success is about achieving results not expending effort. You may have been able to convince your past boss that you tried, but in the solo/small business world – no results, no income. It’s about providing value.

4. In solo practice or small businesses you generate the business. It doesn’t show up at your desk. Sales are the lifeblood of the business. No sales, no cash. No cash, no business. Ask yourself honestly how comfortable you are in a sales role. Marketing and selling yourself and services are fundamental to success. And, the first sale is to yourself.

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest

There is much we can learn from established businesses: both good and not so good. We can learn what’s working and what to avoid. We can see how some businesses are adapting to the changing marketplace and how others are not.  Big businesses struggle at times just like we do. They may be bigger, yet they still have their challenges; challenges we can learn from. Just as we did from our older siblings – or our younger siblings learned from us.

Big Biz Lesson 1: AT&T is facing a challenge with the recent announcement that Apple will be making an iPhone for use on the Verizon network – perhaps by the end of 2010. This represents the end of the AT&T iPhone monopoly. So what are they doing? They are hurrying to build up their infrastructure and improve coverage (interestingly, they have coverage problems in New York City and San Francisco). Too late – yes. Their complacency derived from their monopoly status helped open the door for strong interest in iPhone availability on other networks. AT&T is positioned to lose market share as Verizon gains market share. Don’t let your success lead to complacency. Sure you may think you are doing all right now, but the marketplace never stands still. There is always someone innovating and trying to find ways to capture more business – your busines

Copyright Kubica & LaForest 2010

On Monday we addressed the concept of differentiation and how it can drive your business. Today, we offer 5 essential tips to help you start.
1. Test your value statement. That is, do peers and clients agree that it soundly represents you and how they see your business? If so, use it in all your marketing activities. We believe it is best to translate it into a tag line, such as ours, Helping execs and entrepreneurs achieve greater results through a people-centric approach, or, another example is from one of our pharma research companies, Improving profitability through product differentiation. If your value statement is not well formed and perceivable when tested, get help defining and refining how you and your product or service will improve your customer’s condition or situation.
2. Identify and use a target list (prospective buyers/clients) to guide your marketing and relationship building activities. Your target list should include: in-person contacts, phone calls, emails, internet and mail options as a means to meet and maintain target and key relationships. Attending business meetings and social events is also a good way to meet future customers.
3. Identify the microtargets within your broader target list. Work to understand why they buy (one good way to start is to ask friends who represent your microtarget group or do consumer buying research on the internet).
4. Develop a strategy from the above options to identify which ones are best suited for use with each micro-target group.
5. Then, systematically take action (for example, 3 new contacts and 3 relationship building activities per week).
Starting by differentiating yourself/your service/your brand will build a relationship platform from which clients will get to know you and start buying your products or services. Prospective buyers will begin to find you by repute. Client’s coming to you, verses you seeking them out… now that’s differentiation.
Kubica & LaFores 2010