Did you start a small business on the back of a hobby ?

Where is your business plan, and more importantly business model ?

If you setup a small business that is similar to other competitors – you are dead !

How are you going to do signficantly better in order to compete ?

You need to be remarkable (Seth Godin on remarkable) , and Seth’s book (Free Prize Inside).

I see a few people advocating ‘learn your craft’ – and whilst being knowledgeable is good, I think its very DANGEROUS.
- Christopher says in 10 secrets for 10 years – but again – I think a lot of his thoughts take you perilously too close to competing head-to-head
- this is also echoed by Malcolm Gladwell
- the worst advice I have ever heard – is to be a ‘challenger brand’ – which means you are competing head-to-head

Don’t start a business the same as someone else ….. life is just too short to spend competing doing the same thing as someone else.

Do you have the worst ever small business ?

You should read this if you :

- are launching a new product

- are reviewing your marketing of a product – especially on a crowded industry

The basics are:

- differentiation through marketing alone is not enough

- your product must genuinely be different to your competitors. And it needs to STAND OUT

- brainstorming is rubbish – its all about edge thinking

- you need to champion your ideas – although this is less relevant if you own your own business

The book details an innovation system about edges

- take your thinking and product to the extreme edge

- make it invisible, or outrageous, or obscene, or quiet. It has a very useful list of starting ideas.