I was going to write today about my project management system. I’ll save that for another day. Instead I want to help you hone in on your sweet spot with your business.
I can do so much. I know so much. I can teach so much.
Due to major changes in my life in 2014 (aka becoming the solo bread winner for awhile) I had to re-prioritize. I no longer had the luxury of working my business part time. I started working full time to make ends meet. Due to my upheaval, I let my part time business take a back seat… in all honesty I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue offering the same services.
Fast forward to 2017
Now that some time has gone by and my life has stabilized, I’ve had time to adjust and think about what I really want to do “when I grow up.” My time is tight and some days I my energy is lacking after a hard day. Thank goodness not all of my days are hard. (In fact I’m writing this on a Tuesday morning from my front porch where the temperatures are still cool and the birds are chirping 😊.)
So what do I want to do? Who do I want to work with? What services will I offer?
I’ve been tweaking this for the last two years but I really had some clarity after viewing a webinar over the weekend. This clarity makes me excited because I can REALLY hone into offering specific services to a specific target market.
Here is how you can do the same. Using a Venn Diagram look at these 3 areas:
Skills that you have
Industries that you know
The market’s needs and desires
The sweet spot is in the overlap.
The overlap is your best spot for conducting business as a small business owner. This is where I am focusing. It’s not good enough to focus on just two areas.
A friend of mine just invested money opening an semi automatic car wash. To analyze if it was a good investment he needed to know the skills required to raise the capital, build the business, and run the business. He hired out the building. He bought a franchise so he got the industry specific skills. He already had basic business skills. He knew he could raise the capital.
The industry – he studied the industry and new the pros and cons. He found out the benefits and pitfalls of this kind of business. There are 4 kinds of car washes: self-serve, 100% automatic, partially automatic, and 100 % manual labor.
The market – the market would swoon for this service. You have to go 10 miles to the nearest car wash like this. Yes, the market would gladly pay for this. They had a need and a desire. There are already the other three types of car washes in the area.
My friend’s sweet spot was at the convergence of the 3 areas.
My sweet spot
My skills include small business marketing, operations and management. My industries include real estate, marketing and website services, misc small, but professional businesses, and non profits. The market that I want to focus on due to their needs and desires are women owned, business that may or may not be a side hustle for them. It might be their full time business, but most likely it is on part time hours either alongside a full time job or the job of running their household.
I’m still offering the same thing I have been the last few years. What I’m tweaking is who I’m targeting. Michael Port who wrote Book Yourself Solid calls this the Red Velvet Rope Policy. It’s a great read and I recommend it all the time to service providers.
I’d love to hear how your feedback on finding your sweet spot. If you need some help with this, I’m available for both short and long term coaching. You can learn more here.
