This one is a bit of a follow-up to yesterday's blog post about how
to compete when you don't have a chance in hell of competing.
Which is here - http://ittybiz.com/the-thing-you-have - if you haven't seen it.
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So.
We were talking on the blog about the nice, big empty hole your
competitors leave in the market when they have decided that they
are not interested in competing on X.
Maybe X seems boring to them.
Maybe it's perfectly interesting, but conflicts with what they're
ultimately trying to achieve.
Either way, they've left you an opening and as far as they're
concerned, you can pursue X as much as your capitalistic little
heart desires.
If you can pull off X, and you can pull it off well, you stand a
pretty good chance of getting the customers your competitors are
ignoring.
Pulling off X becomes the thing YOU have that THEY do not.
The benefit to you is that you can capture people who are really
unsatisfied by the fact your competitors do not provide X.
Some examples? Why, of course!
Example 1:
Perhaps your competitors are simply pushing people through a
flashy, cold and detached funnel, because baby, there's a lot money
to be made doing that.
(There is, by the way. Not my bag, but it's an option. We don't
need to make friends with the woman at Wal-Mart who they call a
greeter but is actually there to make sure we paid for that rice
steamer. Cold isn't bad. It's just cold.)
They are not interested in customers who want a more laid-back,
customer-centered experience, or to buy from someone they actually
LIKE. That's an opening for you.
(Zappos comes to mind. "Not sure what size you need? Order two
sizes and just send the one you don't want back.")
Example 2:
Perhaps your competitors have the slickest, most professional
packaging in the industry - whether physical or digital - because
looking pro and big is a great way to convert prospects into buyers.
They are not interested in customers who want their packaging to be
fun, or quirky, or who might prefer a little more substance on the
inside rather than the outside. A homegrown, organic feel might be
an opening for you.
Example 3:
Perhaps your competitors are only offering things on the most
obvious topics or mainstream product lines because catering to the
masses is extremely profitable.
(Do you know what the most popular flavor of ice cream is? Vanilla.)
They are not interested in customers who want the unusual products
or services, or titles that seem more playful than perhaps they
should be. That's an opening for you.
(Take a quick trip to Portland, Oregon and see how long it takes
you to find Avocado Chipotle ice cream. My money's on nineteen
minutes. And there's a lot of money to be made in Chunky Monkey.)
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There are things you can do.
Because you can compete for the people your competitors aren't
interested in, you can get those underserved customers without
worrying about the competition stealing them away. (Aside: When I
first typed that, I typed "undeserving customers". Don't get them.
They don't deserve it.)
We might, for the sake of this email, call those things you can do
Your Advantages.
Those advantages won't necessarily help you to capture a mammoth
part of the market, but you could conceivably capture a fair number
of customers you don't have now.
Sounds pretty good, no?
Well ... no.
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A funny thing happens when you're human - and specifically, when
you're human and intimidated by making a change, taking a risk, or
otherwise putting yourself out there in a situation where failure
is a possibility.
Your brain, quite calmly and with all the authority in the world,
tells you that you can't actually do those things.
It comes up with reasons why your situation is unique and different
and ultimately unfixable, and it tries to change the subject as
quickly as it can.
"Make my packaging more creative than everyone else's? I can't do
that - my costs would be too high." (Or in the case of digital
products "I don't know how to do that, and if I got someone else to
do that, don't you know how expensive a designer would be?")
Fair point.
It might impact your profits, or your workload, or even require the
heavy lifting of thinking in creative ways you're not used to.
It might require a level of courage or confidence you don't feel
you possess, or a market position you feel like you don't have yet,
or a stepping outside your comfort zone that feels completely
impossible.
However, I will take issue with the word "can't."
"Can't" is a mighty universal word.
It means "No" with authority.
When you say you can't do something, you're saying that you CAN NOT
do it.
I would disagree with that.
You can say to me, "I just CAN'T turn myself into a chicken at
will," and I'll believe you. (Though if you could, that would be
the coolest party trick around.)
No one can turn themselves into a chicken.
You can say to me, "I CAN'T go back in time," and I'll believe you.
No one can travel through time.
(Aside: Crystal people, don't start. You know what I mean.)
However, if you were to say to me, "I just CAN'T do [insert
business decision] because I [insert obstacle]," I'm just not going
to believe you.
Maybe you think you can't.
Maybe your situation seems so challenging, so hard to overcome, or
so blocked by that time your mother said, "See! I told you that you
never finish what you start", that you feel well and truly screwed.
However.
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At the risk of sounding like a certain Mr. Productivity Pants
within my employ, you can do a lot of things that you currently
think you CAN'T do.
In fact, there are a lot of people more well-and-truly-screwed than
you are who are finding ways to [insert business decision] despite
the seeming impossibility of it.
In other words, the thing you think you can't do because of the
thing that's holding you back?
People are doing it every day, in situations far more challenging
than yours.
"Well, they're stronger/smarter/more talented people that I am,"
you may say.
No.
They are not stronger, not smarter, not more talented than you.
They are actually pretty ordinary.
Ordinary people who said, "Screw it, I'm going to find a way," and
then they set out to do it, even though it was probably a damn
difficult process.
And they very likely looked for other people who were doing it - or
something close to it - so that they could get ideas and
inspiration.
They probably assumed that SOMEBODY was already pulling something
like that off, and they went searching for them.
That's the funny part about thinking something is impossible for
you.
That feeling seems to dissolve pretty quickly when you start to
notice how many other people in your "unique" situation are
actually doing the thing you think is so impossible for you.
Dave and I have consulted with over 1,000 ittybiz owners.
The "unique" obstacles you face are a hell of a lot less unique
than you think.
And the number of people just like you who are finding ways to work
around them is a lot bigger than you might imagine.
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Just for today, try something for me.
Think of an obstacle you have that's standing in the way of you
building your ittybiz.
Something that seems impossible to work around.
Now, close your eyes and ask yourself, "How do other people work
around this problem?"
The language is important.
It's not "How COULD other people work around this problem?"
It's how DO they.
Every time you say, "Yeah, but I have [this particular thing] that
makes it difficult ..." ask the question again.
"Well, how DO people who also have this particular "yeah but" work
around it?"
Assume that people DO.
People just like you.
You'll be surprised how fast the answers come.
xx
Edward
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