But They're Already Doing It...

Pool Noodles
Bottled water
Flashlights
Smoke detectors

What do all of these have in common?

There are at least 5 different brands of each.

I was reminded of this when we were grabbing smoke detectors from Menard’s today.

We walked to aisle 7 expecting to quickly grab 4 smoke detectors, checkout, and move about our business.

Ha. Negative.

There were 5 different brands. Some alerted for both smoke and carbon monoxide. Some just used a battery and some were hardwired. Some talk to you and some don’t obnoxiously beep at you with a low battery.

After 10 minutes we settled on what we needed.

It made me think about being a business owner. These days it’s rare that someone starts a business that hasn’t already been done before in some level.

What would have happened if nobody started a business because someone else had?

“Oh, dang it, sally already created a flashlight so we should move on to another idea.”

If that had happened we wouldn’t have the flash light that featured a super bright LED that also includes a handle for your belt loop, and a magnet that allows you to attach it to the hood of your car incase you need to check the car battery at night.

I know Sean would be sad because, I’m almost certain he has that one and has used it ;)

Moving from The Hatchery coworking space (1 of 2 in town) to an online business coach (1 of a billion online) was similar to this. Why would someone hire me? What makes me different?

I had to spend some time on these questions. It was up to me to figure out problem I was solving for customers, how I would differ from the others, and dig into my uniqueness to separate myself.

So if you’re feeling like 1 in a million - find what makes you unique and showcase that.

If you’re looking to start a business - how can you do it better or more efficient than your competitors? Once you find that out, put your uniqueness into it and share it with the world!