Welcome to New
Business Ownership
It’s time to work on your strategic value proposition.
BY BETH LABRECHE
IF YOU’RE A NEW ENTREPRENEUR in the state of Minnesota, please accept my congratulations and warm welcome to
the club. You’re one of the largest wave of new business owners
in the history of our state.
Right now you’re probably busy outfitting your office, putting together your database of prospects and crunching your
first budget numbers. But, in the midst of all those checklists,
make sure you take time for getting something else in place:
your strategic value proposition.
Many businesses make the mistake of jumping into the entrepreneurial pool without memorializing why. Every business,
whether it is just days or hundreds of years old, needs to clearly
define who they are, what they do and why they are different.
Your proposition provides a
benchmark against which you will
measure your reputation by asking
customers, prospects and influencers
if they know, understand and can
interpret that proposition.
But most of all, defining why all of that should matter to your
stakeholders is the most important definition of all. It’s called
your strategic value proposition.
Having a solid strategic value proposition will be imperative
for managing your business’ reputation. Your proposition provides a benchmark against which you will measure your reputation by asking customers, prospects and influencers if they
know, understand and can interpret that proposition. You will
see your business through others’ eyes.
Here’s a simple-stepped process to get your going:
CAPTURE YOUR MISSION AND VISION » Your mission
is to do something. What is it? The vision you have for your
company is what? Your core value to yourself, others, your clients, community, the environment is what?
Mission, vision and values are things
your business “holds on to.” They are
internally focused—a rally cry for your
team. Capturing these is important pre-work to defining your strategic value
proposition, and how to position your
company externally.
ASK YOURSELF SOME SIMPLE
QUESTIONS » Who are we? Who do
we serve? Who are our competitors?
How are we different? What are the
unique benefits that are derived from
our product or service? What does it
feel like to work with us?
This may seem deeply intuitive to you
and, thus, unnecessary to capture on paper.
After all, the answers to these questions are
what keep you coming to work each day.
But remember that this may be obvious to
you alone. You must begin to organize the
words that express these answers, because they are words that you
will tell others, which they will then use to spread your good word.
« BETH LABRECHE
(blabreche@labreche.
com) is CEO of
LaBreche. She
specializes in such
reputation management services as
brand strategy, online
presence, visual
communications
and public relations,
including issues
management, crisis
communications and
media relations.
PROJECT YOUR BUSINESS THROUGH BRAND PERSONALITY ASSOCIATION » If you were a famous person,
who would you be and why? What automobiles are most like
your business; what brand attributes do you share? Is there an
important building, person or object that represents your business? Explain why you made that choice.
Associating with people and companies that stand for a certain something will help you project your business in similar
ways, borrowing characteristics from perceptions of brands that
already have a following.
LISTEN TO YOUR STAKEHOLDERS » What do they know
about you? What do they think about you? What do they tell others
about you? How do they compare you to your competitors? How
would they describe the experience of working with you?
