Ways to Find a Unique Selling Proposition for Your Small Business

Even if your business has high-quality products and services, you can still get crowded out by the competition. Consumers may overlook your products and services if you don’t know how to communicate why they should come to you and not your competitors. 

This is where your unique selling proposition comes into play. It’s about looking at your competitors and find something that you have that they don’t have. Once you find your unique selling point, you can set apart your small business in the competition.

What is a Unique Selling Proposition?

A unique selling proposition (USP), also known as a unique value proposition, is the core of your competitive advantage as a small business. It clearly articulates why someone should want to buy from you. It’s the #1 thing that determines whether people will bother reading more about your product or service or hit the back button. Your unique value proposition should be the foundation of your company’s brand promise. It’s also essential to keep your message consistent across every aspect of your online presence.

The most compelling value propositions are concise, highlight quantifiable outcomes, and clearly distinguish the value the seller is offering over the competition. Many small business owners set themselves up for failure by never genuinely articulating a compelling value proposition. But you must establish a substantive, unique selling proposition if you want to go from idea to successful business.

Find Your Unique Selling Proposition in 4 Easy Steps

1. What are you good at?

Ask these questions to yourself;

1. What is your signature service in your business? 
2. What do you do better than your competitors? 
3. What are your core services? 

Identifying what your company does and how you’re different from the competition gives you the foundation to develop your unique selling proposition. Be careful as you craft this message, as it’s not a simple tagline in your website’s header. Whatever your claim is, you must be able to back it up. It’s your brand promise. Also, everyone in your company should know what it is and articulate it on demand.

2. Identify your target customer’s pain.

All marketing starts with identifying your best target customer. You must be able to sell your product or service to a specific audience. Otherwise, it will only cost too much to promote it. To close a sale, you need to develop a detailed customer profile. To do that, you must know your customer’s needs and how you can solve their problems. Focus on learning what keeps them up at night.

3. What is your solution set?

It’s not about what you sell. It’s about how long, how quickly, or how cheaply it solves the problem. As you think about what you sell, it’s always dangerous to lead with facts and figures about your product or service. Because no one cares about that, but if you are marketing with benefits and stories, you will make some sales. Some folks love a good brand story. The product sells themselves when your marketing talks about your products and service with a mix of benefits, results, and stories. That’s when your USP is so compelling that your target audience will pay anything to have what you are selling.

Design a selling proposition around your customers’ needs and drill down your key benefits on whether your USP is cheaper, better, or faster. For example, you might hear common complaints among customers. Use your USP as a counterpoint. If your customer is concerned about pricing, you can say, “Yes, our rates are high for the industry, but we offer better tech support than any other provider.”

4. How to leap over the competition?

For you to have a strong USP, you must know your top competitors and what their USP is so that you can position your business against it. No one is looking for a “me too” brand, so you better be talking about something different. Differentiation is one or more factors that make your business unique in your industry. Sounds simple, right? Unfortunately, it’s simple to understand but challenging to execute. In short, it’s the answer to why do people do business with you. You must know your unique factors to stand out in the marketplace. You need to be able to describe your target customer, the problem you solve, and why you’re distinctly better than the competition. Additionally, you might need more than one USP. For instance, many brands choose differentiators for their brands, their products, and even their hiring efforts.

While this might seem to fall into the Fortune 500 companies’ domain, it’s more valuable for small businesses. Since you’re competing against larger brands, you need differentiation that will steer consumers in your direction.

For example, if you want speed to serve as your differentiator. Your signature service will be that you get the product to market or the consumer faster than the competition. In the Amazon prime era, this will be tough if you are a retailer, but it’s a worthy goal. Perhaps you’re not there yet, but once you know your plan, you can adjust your supply chain to get your speed where you want it to be. Once you’re known for a particular USP, consumers will grow to know you by it. You essentially become synonymous with the differentiating factor, which means that your competition will quickly fall behind.

Don’t forget that the most important factor in your USP is YOU! Please do not lose sight that you are the core of your business and it’s signature service or delivery. Don’t chase the competition; lead the competition with your unique selling proposition. Stay true to your core principles, train your staff to keep your brand promise, and your business will stand out.

No company is born with a USP or differentiating factor. You must create, nurture, and propagate it if you want to reap the benefits. 

I want to know what your small business does differently. Share your USP in the comments below. Also, for more insights into small business strategies, sign up for my weekly newsletter. I’d love for you to join our community and use my experience to grow your business.

For more great tips to run your small business, visit the Succeed As Your Own Boss blog and check out the #SmallBizChat Podcast.