Written by: Vickie Sullivan | August 13, 2024
Before You Launch: 2 Questions That Can Save Your Projects
Entrepreneurs are an intrepid bunch. They are not afraid to take big swings when the chips are down. However, that bravery is the biggest reason so many projects fail.
When you’re in the throes of “yeah, let’s do this,” it’s easy to miss a crucial mistake: putting the cart before the horse. The problem isn’t that people aren’t willing to get out there or that they implement the wrong tactics. It’s that they didn’t focus on strategy and resources before charging ahead, so their efforts didn’t differentiate them from the competition. The marketplace checked y’all out and thought, “Nah, it’s the same as the others.”
No amount of execution will fix that.
2 Questions to Ask Before Kicking Off New Projects
To make sure the book you spent months promoting gets you big-fee speaking invitations, that your rebranded website creates more inquiries, or that whatever project you do succeeds, you need to stop and ask these two questions:
• What kind of competitive analysis did you do about your marketplace? A lot of us take a cursory view with a bias of “my approach is better.” This will not work in a world where expertise is everywhere (and free).
• Did you clearly identify the impact of your differentiation? Buyers are inundated with information. They are not going to take time to figure out how they will benefit from your uniqueness. You must do that for them.
Be brutally honest with yourself. If you don’t have clear answers to the above questions, stop whatever projects you are working on and figure it out. Be prepared to invest time, energy, and resources. Finding your best market approach is something worth getting outside help with.
The volatility out there requires you to make big bets on yourself. Temper your bias towards action with a double dose of strategy. Aiming first and shooting later will turbocharge your tactical plans.
Listen: Why Your Big Swing Didn’t Work
Now Read This:
- Is Your Market Volatile? It’s Time to Change Your Strategy
- Competitive Branding for B2B Professional Service Firms