Have you ever noticed? Many people have an entrepreneurial dream. Some have this dream because of a concrete business idea and some love the idea of entrepreneurship an sich. Especially people in the latter category wait endlessly until they have laid the "egg of Columbus. They search for the idea that no one has had before. 

I can tell you; that rarely happens. The secret is to start with what energizes you or what you are good at. You will have competition, of course, but that need not be a problem as long as you are distinctive. 

The goal of being distinctive is NOT to appeal to the whole world, but rather to repel people. And that's totally okay. After all, you want only your target audience to know how to find you. These are usually the clients with whom you enjoy working and with whom you can achieve the best results. In this blog I will give you tips on finding the distinctiveness of your company.

Standing out from the crowd leads to better financial results

Your distinctiveness sets you apart from the crowd. From research by marketing and innovation agency Six Fingers it appears that 82% of the distinguished companies are more successful than their competitors within the same industry. 

Also, the Erasmus University and Neyenrode dove into this topic. Their research found that high distinctiveness leads to better financial results. Standing out leads to growth, and growth is an important factor within building a strong brand. The researchers indicate that 40% of the Return on Investment can be explained by the level of distinctiveness. So time to get to work!

How do I stay distinctive?

Once we are in business, we are consumed by daily to-do's. We often take little time to look at our business from a distance in helicopter-view. Yet it is important to regularly reflect on your business. What makes you different from your competitors? It is important that you know exactly why you stand out and then communicate that to your target audience. 

This distinctiveness is also part of your personal branding. Want to know more about this topic? Via this roadmap I teach you more about strong personal branding. 

How do you stay ahead of the competition? A concrete roadmap

Time to get concrete! Because how do you continue to stand out from your competition? We will search for your distinctiveness using a number of steps.

What do your competitors all do the same?

Are all your competitors doing the same thing? We tend to think then that it must be good. That you're out of the loop if you're not doing the same thing. My advice is to think contrarian and stubborn and act in your own way. If everyone else is doing the same thing, it gives you opportunities to do it very differently! Different, truly yourself. Take some time to analyze five competitors. Look for things that everyone does the same and write them down. 

Dive into your own business: what makes you unique?

Of course, you can be forced to look for a distinctive approach. Yet it is important to remain authentic. That's where your strength lies. What do you naturally do differently than the rest? Customers sense when you are genuine, and besides, it's hard for competitors to copy that piece of your DNA. 

Dive into your company and your own way of working and look for unique knowledge, your potential, your passion, your special values or a deviant, your unique way of thinking. Do you find it difficult? That's not crazy! Often it is so normal to you that you overlook it. It can help to do direct market research and make some calls to clients. They can tell you why they chose you. What appeals to them? You often discover your distinctiveness that way.

What irritations do your customers have? 

What problem or pain does your customer have? What annoys the customer? And is there a solution to this pain or irritation? Also ask yourself what they are very satisfied with and what really helped them. In short: where does their need lie? 

Write down all the complaints and wishes and then think about an appropriate solution. How can you ensure that the customer is helped? 

Keep experimenting and dare to fail

Have you been in business for a while? Then by now you will find that your business is never the same as the year before. I see that as a positive thing!

Change happens faster when you dare to experiment. As positive as this sounds, many of my clients find this difficult. Because then, of course, the "failure" piece comes around the corner. And failure generally has a negative connotation. But I see the power of failure. You learn by your mistakes. Learning by experimenting. 

You learn by adapting, improving and innovating things OTHERS. To me, this is a continuous process that you have to keep working on. Especially if you want to keep developing as an ambitious entrepreneur and keep taking new steps so that you grow.So keep challenging yourself and dare to experiment. Then don't forget to analyze and reflect. This will keep you and your business evolving. This will ensure that you are onMARKremain distinctive in the marketplace. Innovate and experiment to create and seize new opportunities.

My advice is to think critically about the following questions:
- When was the last time you tried something new?
- When did you decide to take an OTHER approach?
- What did you learn from your experiments?

Discover your distinctiveness and communicate it

Time to pull out your notes again and discover what makes you unique. What points do all your competitors do the same but you can tackle differently because it fits who you are?

Also look at it from the customer's point of view. What major annoyances do your customers have and does every competitor handle the same? Look for the one way in which you can solve the problem. Herein lies the solution to the question how can you differentiate your company from the competition?

Is it clear to you what you have to do? Use it in all your marketing communications and make sure your target audience knows that you are distinctive in this area. Above all, it is important that you clearly communicate the customer's benefit. What is most important to your customer is the result it produces. The path after that is less relevant.