When we fall in love with someone it’s not usually because they are just like everyone else. What would be the point? No, it’s because there is something unique and special about them, something we haven’t encountered in the masses of people we encounter on a day-to-day basis.

Part of recapturing the love of our business is remembering what it was that made us special, unique, and unusual at the start. We forget to celebrate those amazing qualities when we start to take them for granted.

A client a few years back was facing increased competition. As a small retail jeweler, she’d had a comfortable business for 30+ years. Recently new, large jewelry store chains of the Tiffany’s ilk had entered her geographic area and she was feeling the pinch.

Not only had a couple of high end chains opened up shop in her area, some of the larger local players were responding with a surge in radio and print advertising. With a limited budget, she couldn’t compete on the already cluttered advertising airwaves.

In our initial session together we got down to the root of her business and it quickly became apparent what her “gems” (pun intended) were. She owned a family run business that was 60 years old. Her level of service and one-to-one time with customers meant they came in to ask for her by name. Children and grandchildren of her father’s original customers were still coming to the store to have custom design work done.

In a crowded, noisy market of big bling, hers was a stable, customer-focused, high quality, high service boutique. And she didn’t even know it.

She left the session that day, repeating with wonder in her voice, “I’m a boutique. I’ve never really thought of that. I’m a boutique.” Her spark was relit when she recognized and appreciated all the great things she’d been doing for years and had been taking for granted.

Take a close look at your business and acknowledge the characteristics that make you unique and memorable…then get back to celebrating them.

- Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

Tags: Liz Gaige, Market Navigators, Marketing, passion in business

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 12:35 am and is filed under Blog, Fall in Love with Your Business, Liz Gaige - Marketing, Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.