Every small business should have a specialty.

Yes, every small business. Yes, a specialty.

Often when I ask clients to describe their specialty, they return a blank look or answer with a long list of products or services that they offer or a population that they serve.

Clearly they are not yet in touch with their specialty.

A specialty is typically a single product or a set of products, service or a group of services that you want to be known for. It is not everything you have to offer.

It is your “secret sauce”, your “special recipe”, your “unique design”.  It is that product or service that you want to sell or provide more than anything else you can offer.

In the first few years of business, many small business owners are unclear on their specialty. They offer everything they can offer to anyone that will buy. It is not long before they realize that their audience is not clear on what they stand for or how they can best serve them.

It is also one of the most common reasons that they find they are not attracting the type of business they really want. With encouragement, they shift all their efforts to their specialty. The outcome is more success and more bliss.

For a business owner, a specialty is a “sweet spot”. It is that overlap between a product or service that you are an expert in, that will produce the income and profit that you want, and the work or delivery that you enjoy most.

When convincing clients that want to generalize that specialty is best, they are often looking for reasons and motivation…

Here are 3 reasons I give them to specialize:

Increase referrals

When you are very clear on what you have to offer and who you offer it to,  then those people that can and will refer you find it much easier to use their influence to drive business your way. Referrals are the life’s blood of so many businesses.

Drives profitability

When you try to serve all clients, you may just fill your business or practice with clients that are not the most profitable. When you choose your specialty partially based on profitability and focus on driving that business, you will be more profitable.

Creates Bliss

When you ask for it, you are more likely to get it. If you are asking for what you enjoy doing most, then you are more likely to get it. That means you will have more joy in your work and in your life.

 

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