Imagine your business is a tree. Alive and growing, subject to nurturing and pruning, and organically connected to your life. Continuing our trip up the small-business tree, above the roots, let’s discuss the trunk of the tree.
The trunk is the strong, firm, central support structure of your business. It grows directly from the roots; it’s the first part of the tree that is visible above the ground. And it’s the physical support for all the branches (and twigs and leaves — we’ll get to the leafy parts in a future post). The trunk of your small-business tree is two concepts that are equally important, and mutually dependent: What your business does and who you do it for. Let’s explore these in a little more detail:
- What does your business do? In marketing-speak, this is often called your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition. It’s a compelling description of the product or service you provide. If you are a sole proprietor, you might be tempted to say that what you do and what your business does are the same thing. Here’s a thought-experiment: For a moment, resist this temptation and try to view your business the way a competitor would, or the way a bigger company would if they were thinking of buying you out. Crazy-sounding, I know, but the shift in perspective can be valuable. Now try viewing your business from the perspective of a potential customer. Did all three groups (competitor, buyer, customer) identify your USP? If not, what can you do to present it more clearly? Of course, the customer perspective is the most important one here, which leads us to the second part of the trunk:
- Who does your business serve? Marketing types like to call this your “target market” (or target audience, or target demographic), but I’ve always been a little weirded out by the idea of getting a potential customer in your rifle sights, so to speak. Enough with the violent metaphors (yeah, even “campaign” gets to me). I like to use the language of abundance and connection, rather than hunting and war. Try asking yourself this question: Who are the perfect customers, the ideal clients, for your business? If you are tempted to say “everyone,” or even a very broad category like “women” or “Europeans,” I feel your pain. You want a large group of perfect clients, because that means more income. But a product that is marketed to everyone can easily end up appealing to no one. In order to appeal strongly to your perfect customers, you must be willing to let go of people who are not perfect. And this is a subject that merits its own blog post, so look for that in the future.
Remember that the roots provide nourishment (life support) to your business. And the first place that nourishment goes is the part of your business that supports everything else: The trunk. So your USP and ideal customer are both going to be concepts that are strongly congruent with, and supported by, the roots you’ve already identified.
Can you take five minutes right now and identify your USP? Can you describe, in a sentence or two, the ideal person who benefits from this USP? And do these words resonate strongly with your business roots?
Next up, we’ll talk about the branches and leaves of your small-business tree, plus we’ll have some real-life examples of roots and trunks. Here at YWC we’re constantly exploring this concept for ourselves, and we’ll share our self-discoveries with you as they happen. Just another example of how our business, like yours, is growing and changing. Feel free to share your tree-epiphanies (treepiphanies! a new word!) in the comments!
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Posted by Wendy Cholbi, your friendly neighborhood swim-goggle-wearing technology-to-English translator
