This week I’ve been helping people with boring businesses. That is, the businesses themselves aren’t boring, nor are the people who run them, but the businesses look just the same as their competitors, and there’s nothing to make someone want to buy from them or even notice them. Any differentiation has just been on the nebulous ideas that “we’re nice chaps” or “we’re really good at what we do.” But of course, everyone thinks that they are a nice chap, or that they’re the best, but you don’t have any evidence of it. I’m really lovely, and amazing at what I do, but how do I prove it to you?

Anyway, people don’t spend money with you because you’re nice. Particularly at the moment, with the new rule that it’s bad to let any cash out of the door, people are only going to spend money if there’s an amazing reason for it.

To get people to buy from you, you have to get them to notice you first. My friend Aida is this one that you want - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. She’s great Aida, a lovely girl. And you won’t get even the first letter of Aida’s name if you’re boring – no one will even notice you.

Boring businesses include:

  • Hairdressers
  • Business advisors
  • Italian restaurants
  • Soft skills trainers
  • IT support services
  • Pubs

Many people set up a business as if they’ve been to see the careers advisor at school. I’m going to be a nurse, fireman, trainer. They see what they’re good at, and there’s a category of business which they fit into. No wonder they’re all the same – they’ve been designed to be the same as everyone else. Does this sound familiar?

I’ve worked with lots of these businesses, and my first starting point is always – how do we make this into something remarkable? We need something which makes people notice it, and even more importantly, talk about it, tell stories about it. I’ve written elsewhere about the marketing advantages of running a remarkable business, and Seth Godin comes back to this point time and time again in his writing about marketing and business.

My technique when faced with a boring business is to dig deep into what’s really going on with the business. Is there a niche of customers that the business is really good at servicing? Concentrate on that seam, establish a reputation for excellence and that reputation will spill over into everything else you do. Do the business owners have something that other people don’t have? Jacky Misson at Nido Marketing has made telesales (a boring business if there ever was one) into something exciting, purely by force of her personality. Because Jacky is so excited about her business, and the act of getting on the phone, she makes you want to engage Nido – her enthusiasm and sense of fun is infectious. Is there an idea you can steal from somewhere else? I recently told a café owner that I wouldn’t eat in her café – and she said she wouldn’t either! No wonder she isn’t making any money. I set her some homework to go to some great cafes and work out what makes them great – and then we can work on some ideas to steal, once we know what works somewhere else.

Have a look at your business and see what’s there under the surface, or what you can creatively swipe from other people. Make it different, make it remarkable and then you can work out how to tell people about it.