Have you ever read something and wished you had come up with it? A concept that says exactly what you feel is true but haven’t quite been able to express it meaningfully.
That’s how I feel about many parts of a book I’ve been going back to again and again this past month. It’s a short read but there are so many gems in there, I find myself sitting with a few paragraphs at a time to let them sink in.
The book is The Win Without Pitching Manifesto.
In it, the author, Blair Enns shares 12 proclamations that discerning and astute owners of creative firms follow to get new business (aka sell) differently from the way it’s always been done.
Even though Blair focuses on creative services, this book/manifesto is relevant to most of us who are selling our expertise as a service – whatever form that takes.
Today, I’m focusing on the very first proclamation: We Will Specialize.
I wish I had said what Blair says in this section of the book.
I’ve bolded one phrase for emphasis:
“What we call positioning, others more serious about the business of their craft call fundamental business strategy. The first step – focus – is to answer the strategy question of “What business are we in?” Choosing the focus for our firm remains The Difficult Business Decision. Too often, we decide to not decide and so, in our minds, leave open the possibility that we may continue to do all things for all types of clients. In creative firms the world over – firms populated and run by curious problem solvers – the avoidance of The Difficult Business Decision remains the root cause of most business development problems.”
The Difficult Business Decision
The first step of positioning – which he accurately identifies as fundamental business strategy – is to define your focus. (I will almost never use the word niche because it’s overused and nebulous.)
Focus though. Does anyone not know what focus is?
We understand that focus is narrow.
That it requires concentration, deliberation, intentionality, and effort.
That there is only so much we can focus on at any given time and focusing on too many things means you’re not truly focusing on any.
Picking a focus for your business is hard.
Blair notes one of the main reasons it’s so hard:
“…the difficulty of deciding what business we are in is made harder by our inclination to preserve our options, to pursue something we’ve never done before, to reserve the right to do it differently next time.”
And I think we all inherently feel this. We didn’t start a business to pigeonhole ourselves into doing one thing over and over again.
The thing is though, success in business is dependent on the people who pay you for what you’re in the business of doing. That doesn’t mean they get to decide how you run your business.
But it does mean that you have to be clear and specific about what you can do for them and why you’re the best choice to do it.
Let’s Make 2024, the year of FOCUS
My focus is to help you focus. More specifically, it’s to help you be choosy AF in your business.
- To be choosy about the clients you want to work with.
- To be choosy about the price you want to charge so you can do amazing work.
- To be choosy about what you will say yes to so you can stay focused.
- To be choosy about what it means to be a business owner in this noisy world.
- To be choosy about what you consume and who you listen to.
- To be choosy about how you will approach your work so it feels right for you.
- To be choosy about your business model because it doesn’t have to be like anyone else’s.
Being choosy like this is only possible if you create a smart strategy to guide you in your choices.
That smart strategy is positioning.
If you’re ready to be choosy and see your business grow, I’d love to work with you.
Once you make the difficult business decision, you’ll see how it unleashes your creativity rather than stifles it. And there’s no way to experience this without choosing a focus.
Let’s hop on a call and talk about what’s kept you from choosing a focus in your business up to now.
P.S. Here are all 12 proclamations from The Win Without Pitching Manifesto:
- We Will Specialize
- We Will Replace Presentations with Conversations
- We Will Diagnose Before We Prescribe
- We Will Rethink What it Means to Sell
- We Will Do With Words What We Used to Do With Paper
- We Will Be Selective
- We Will Build Expertise Rapidly
- We Will Not Solve Problems Before We Are Paid
- We Will Address Issues of Money Early
- We Will Refuse to Work at a Loss
- We Will Charge More
- We Will Hold Our Heads High
Numbers 1, 3, 6, 7, and 11 are my favorites.