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This article is typical of how people are taught to create a competitive advantage for their business.
“Crafting Your Statement — Your statement of competitive advantage has four components: your name, your company, a statement about a problem in your market, and how you and your product solve that problem.
Essentially, it is a 30-second statement explaining what differentiates your company in the marketplace.”
This author teaches us that if we have a solution to a problem, it—our solution—defines our competitive advantage. And in the last sentence it concludes that this four component statement “…differentiates your company in the marketplace.”
BOOM. PROBLEM SOLVED. EASY-PEASY.
WRONG.
This approach is not only an oversimplification, it’s misleading.It DOESN’T establish competitive advantage in any way, shape or form.
And, unfortunately, the approach is not an isolated example of how businesses are being coached on how to define what makes their organization unique and special among their competitors.
And I would say 99.9% of the ‘experts’ out there promulgate the same type of gibberish.
If I come up with a solution to the distracted driving problem does that automatically mean my solution gives me a competitive advantage?
“YES”, the previous ‘experts’ would say.
“NO”, Roy says it’s gibberish.
All it means is that you figured out ONE solution among many to the distracted driving problem. Your solution doesn’t give you ANY advantage, for example, unless it’s unique in some way compared to what other solutions are out there.
Where is the notion of solution comparison to the competition in the gibberish? It is MIA. Not mentioned. Not important apparently.
Look, the gibberish is helpful to a point. It correctly advises that you must find a solution to a problem that someone has if you want to have a chance for success.
Find out what’s keeping people awake at night and find a solution to their dilemma and help them rest.
That’s a good start. But it’s not the end which the gibberish implies.
You need to determine HOW to make your solution DiFFERENT from everyone else’s solution in a way people care about if your solution is to ‘have legs’ in the market.
So, let’s transform the gibberish advice into something meaningful and relevant.
“Crafting Your Statement — Your statement of competitive advantage has four components: your name, your company, a statement about a problem in your market, and how you and your product solve that problem in a way no one else in the market does.
Essentially, it is a 30-second statement explaining what differentiates your company in the marketplace.”
Your takeaway from a guy who took an early stage internet company to A BILLION IN SALES — create solutions that standout and are unique among the competitive hordes if you want to be honest with yourself that you really DO have a competitive advantage.
Ignore the gibberish.
Develop The ONLY Statement for your solution.
“Our solution (brand it, like ‘Distracted Driving Resolved’) is the ONLY real solution to the distracted driving problem killing the lives of millions of children, parents, grandparents and friends each year.”
Related: 3 Audacious Moves You Can Make When You Don’t Have a Business Plan