An extra short post today to remind everyone that things move better when you are above the hustle and bustle.As I flew home last night watching the sun set out the window of the Southwest 737, it struck me how beautiful and calm everything looked up there. In fact even on the majority of ugly, rainy days – it is beautiful above the clouds.And me being me…that got me thinking about how true that is in business as well.When you remove yourself from the crowded, busy, highly congested (and contested) conventional fights and create your own market, you have more freedom and opportunity.
More Open Space
It’s just like when you leave a busy city, crammed with people and cars and get on a plane. Once you’re up there, things are calmer. While you may be packed in the plane with a bunch of other people like sardines, the space that your plane has to navigate in is a vast stretch of open sky. You rarely even see another plane while you’re up there.A short time ago, I wrote a post called This Is Not Your Grandpa’s Marketplace. Go back, take a second look, and ask yourself…
- What makes my business different than my competitors?
- What can my business offer people outside of our traditionally defined market?
- What makes me as an individual different when I interact with customers or prospects?
- What value can I personally offer my customers and prospects that others cannot?
Think outside the box and try to define what is different about you. Look for opportunities that aren’t typically thought of as being inside your industry’s sandbox…but are close enough to draw the attention of prospective buyers.Sometimes it’s hard to see these things for yourself, so you may consider asking a friend or co-worker to look at your situation through a second set of eyes and brainstorm with you.The important thing is that you keep looking for your own stretch of open sky.