To take another tip from Jesus, history’s greatest startup founder, we find him regularly reinforcing that his creation is set apart, sanctified, and distinctly different from others in the world. His word says,
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 MEV
How have you proved what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God for your customers?
You need a renewed mind to prove this. You can’t just take it for granted while loving your solution and blindly charging forward to learn the hard way. It would be nice to pray that your product or service offers a unique value to its customers, yet the reality is that you have to prove it. This is part of the work of the entrepreneur. When we seek the truth, He is faithful to reveal it.
Sanctify them in the truth [set them apart for Your purposes, make them holy]; Your word is truth.
John 17:17 AMP
The BIB LIFE Growth Path guides us to “Sanctify it”. This means to set your business (your solution) apart, unlike others, not conforming to this world, but proven acceptable for the purposes you have intended. This involves discerning the advantages your business has over others. Renewing your mind with these truths will lead you to the strategies enabling you to win in the competitive marketplace.
Competition is perhaps one of the most often misunderstood and misused words in our language. We are accustomed to thinking of it as striving against a foe or adversary. The word competition means- to strive together. When we compete with others, it brings out our best. The key to success is not beating others, but it is about becoming our best selves and winning over our lesser selves. It is about the unique ways in which we win our customer’s hearts, payment, and continued business relationships.
The most successful small businesses spend little time focusing on their competition, but they focus on improving their performance. So, when we look for Advantage, we focus inward on the space between where your business starts and where the customer’s experience ends. How are you uniquely positioned to delight your customer?
A real unfair advantage is something that cannot be easily copied or bought. This is truly a sanctified or set apart position. Yet, this will not be the case for many businesses. You must go beyond the hope of a single distinguishing quality to ensure you can win in the marketplace.
As believers in business, our positioning goes beyond how we compare to our direct competitors, but how we relate to all of the market forces. While we are most concerned with how we relate to our customers with the intent to delight them with our solution, our relationships with suppliers, substitutes, and new entrants into our market and existing rivals are also integral to wining our customer’s hearts.
My hero and teacher, Michael Porter, gave us the Porter 5 Forces Model. It is a simple tool that has stood the test of time. It allows us to examine our true positioning in the marketplace and discover the winning strategies in the face of the different powers within the markets wherein we compete.
Watch this 2-minute explainer video. Porter’s 5 Forces.
Taking the time to explore your unfair advantage and Porter’s 5 forces will enable you to set your business apart long before spending the time, money, sweat, frustration, and regret from learning the hard way that your product fails the test of offering unique value to customers in the marketplace. You can prove what the good and acceptable, and perfect will of God is.
So, before re-setting your business, Sanctify it!