What’s Your Business - in 15 words or less please!

FOCUS

If you were asked to state in 20 seconds what your business is all about, could you?

I have always believed this is crucial – I have heard many business people share what they do at events around the world and many cannot do so without using lengthy descriptions, industry jargon or leaving out what is vital to their customers.

SUMMARISE

Take some time to summarise your organisation and what it does in 15 words or less – if you need more, go back and refine it again!

No-one wants to be bored to death by facts and figures. Often a quirky one liner helps people grasp what you are about.

Some thoughts:

Aim at your target customer.
Include what you offer, your value and what you don’t.
Make any points of difference - why are you different from other competitors?

IT BRINGS CLARITY AND UNITY

It is more difficult than it seems, especially if the organisation covers many departments. Different department heads will have their own points of view and be going in different directions if the strategy isn’t clear – a waste of time & money.

IMAGINE

You sit down in your business class seat on a short-haul flight – and yes, it’s Richard Branson right next to you. He casually asks, “So what is the strategy of your organisation?” You have approximately 15 words (and 5 seconds) to enunciate it. Get it right – you might get a $1m investment. Get it wrong? You will get a smile, a nod and he will go back to reading the paper.

WORDS IMPACT PEOPLE

One day, an advertising executive and a colleague were having lunch in New York’s Central Park. On the way back, they saw a blind man begging for money. He had a cup for donations and a sign that read: ”I am blind”. Passers by ignored him. The executive stopped and offered to alter the wording on his sign to increase the donations. He took out a marker pen and scribbled four words. Passers by started stopping and soon the cash poured in. What did he add? The sign now read: “It is spring and I am blind”.

(Thanks to Jeffrey Tobias from The Strategy Group for adapting some of his ideas.)

Peter Irvine
www.peterirvine.com
Peter is Co-Founder of Gloria Jean’s Coffees, author of ‘Win In Business’ and ‘Building your Business, your People, your Life’ and keynote speaker.

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