Find your sweet spot
Tennis players know the importance of finding the sweet spot, a place on their racket where a combination of factors ensures the maximum speed of the ball for the effort expended. Yet it is surprising that few in business take the time to understand or capitalise on their company’s sweet spot. Where the optimal balance across a number of key factors lead to the best overall results for you, your customers and the business.
Unfortunately, many in business find it hard to identify their sweet spot. If you haven’t found yours, now is a great time to start looking. Here are some tips to get started:
Start with the question ‘what’s going right?’ Rather than obsessing on what has gone wrong. Focus on what works well and produces above average results for you. What are the common themes and most profitable products and services you offer? Then (importantly) match these up with market potential, as whilst you may have a favourite product or service if it has limited potential it may not be something to build your whole growth strategy around.
Identify your core competencies. Your business was most likely founded on these, revisit them, establish if they are still relevant and identify how you can cultivate them to make them even more relevant today. It’s not uncommon to lose sight of these core competencies as a business grows. It can often simply be a case of doing old things in new ways, to renew them or make them even more relevant to leverage growth.
Listen to your customers. Especially those that are profitable promoters of your products and services. What is it that they rave about when it comes to your business? Also, listen to those who praise your business on social media, through word of mouth and at networking events. Chances are, theses ‘shout-outs’ may lie at the heart of your sweet spot.
What are you passionate about? If you’re simply in it for the money, it’s not going to satisfy you and you will get bored. If you have passion and talent but no money, you have no more than a hobby. If you have passion and money but no talent, you tend to fail. Whether you realise it or not passion will, and should feature somewhere in your sweet spot. If you’re passionate about something it tends to come easier, you put in more effort and go the extra mile to ensure its right and your business becomes the vehicle for the work you are motivated by passion to do.
Finding your sweet spot will enable you to play to your strengths but should not be confused with finding a niche. A niche is based on external factors, such as identifying a requirement in the market or a problem needing a solution. Whereas your sweet spot is based on internal factors of building on strengths, competencies and passion.
Great companies know their ‘sweet-spot’.
