For business owners you know how tough it is “out there;” out there in the ocean of competition, regulation, fickle consumers, long hours and reduced cash flow.  It is especially challenging now, this time of year, when some businesses will do 75 percent of all their business and others take a fourth quarter break.

Several years ago I read a book that I encourage you to read, called Blue Ocean Strategy, written by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne of The Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. I confess that I start many business books but finish few and find that many of them are overly complicated and go off in too many directions. THIS book I read from cover to cover and could not put down. If you’d like a three minute intro and overview here is a great YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJH0g-EPGDs

But here’s what The Blue Ocean really means: it means you have no competition—unless you think you do. Do you understand that? It doesn’t mean you have no competitors (meaning others doing the same or similar things), but since every person and business is unique it means that no one is exactly like you. So what separates YOU from everyone else?

Let’s explore some of the most competitive fields in Laguna Niguel: real estate, food establishments and those in the beauty field. From the OUTSIDERS (our) perspective, anyone and everyone is these fields are all the same.

“If you’ve been to one eatery/ beauty salon or dealt with one Realtor, you’ve dealt with them all,” you may think, which is far from the truth. As much as YOU may think that one Realtor is the same as another, they would disagree. Some specialize in first time buyers; others in investment property, commercial real estate, short sales, REOs, working with certain ethnicities or languages and the multitude of individual tracks of homes in the areas.

The Blue Ocean Strategy states that instead of swimming in the same Red Ocean as all the rest, each of them trying to devour each other, find the One Thing (or more) that makes you different and unique. That is your Blue Ocean and if you understand the process you can/will can OWN IT. And once YOU understand it, your mission is to make sure everyone else does, too.

Blue Ocean Strategy gives many examples of how certain companies have truly been able to separate themselves from all or most of their competition, including Southwest Airplanes, Cirque du Soleil and others like them. There are many airlines to choose from, but most of us that have flown Southwest would agree that they are unique in what they do. Jet Blue is in that same category, but they are really not head-to-head competitors. And Cirque du Soleil? Are they a theater act? A circus? Yes, and yes.

The beauty industry is (at face value) easy to compare apples to apples. Are all stylists the same? How about nail salons? Cosmetic surgeons? The truth is that they are all different. Yet OUR perception is that they are the same. The goal of each individual is to show the world (and potential customers) that is not true and they are truly different.

The challenge is that if you ask all of these individuals, the Realtors, hair stylists, insurance agents, financial planners, for that matters ANY profession that has lots of competition, “WHAT makes you different and better?” you will get the same pat, standard answers:

• Because I care.
• Because I give 100 percent service.
• Because I have passion for my job and for my clients.

All those are probably true, but they are not enough.

One of the biggest goals that we have as business consultants is to teach every business about competitive positioning. If you would like to know more, please let me know and plan on attending the next “helping 100 Businesses for 100 Days” event planned for Newport Beach in January, 2012.