I have recently been going to a chiropractor as I have been suffering from neck and shoulder pains. The person I have been seeing says it is probably down to a pinched nerve, or old sports injuries, but he has also found that this has resulted in my left shoulder being higher than my right, and apparently my left leg appearing shorter than my left. I know this makes me sound a bit like Quasimodo, but I think these differences are tiny, and probably only visible to a professional like him.

However, the outcome of this gradual change (I’m told it may also have something to do with getting old) is that more and more aches and pains are materialising in my leg, my foot and my lower back. Essentially something needs to be done to stop me falling apart completely!!

So what, you may ask, has this got to do with business coaching? Well as my chiropractor said, many people like me are aware of the aches and pains gradually getting worse, but time and the ability to “soldier on” stop people from doing anything about it. Eventually this can lead to serious problems, and ultimately, as in one case he mentioned, could even lead to hospitalisation to operate on the problems. In other words there we all are, knowing that we have all sorts of issues and problems, but because of time, money, ignorance or even stubbornness or fear we do nothing about it until it is too late!!

Now look at your business. Are there issues and problems? Are they getting better or worse? Perhaps now is the time to stop sticking your head in the sand trying to ignore them, and perhaps you should find a coach to help you make things better.

I spent a very constructive and interesting afternoon last week with one of my clients talking about why people should chose them and not any of their competition. Essentially we were working on their Unique Selling Point (USP) which, as I always tell my clients, is seldom one part of their service or one product, but almost always a combination of several good points. Some of your competition may be providing some of the things you do. And some may be providing others, but your uniqueness comes from the sum of all the things you do being better and greater than any of them.

Time spent on things like this, is never time wasted, because it makes you take a good hard look at yourself, and see what the client or potential client is seeing. If it is not as good as the competition, or is perhaps focussing on things which your target market might consider less important to them, then you will need to address this as quickly as possible.

Everything you think of which you consider part of your uniqueness must also be of benefit to your clients, not just something which you think looks or sounds good. A tip I was given to check that something is a benefit or not, is to put the words “which means that” after each point. If you can’t think of anything good to add after those words, then it probably isn’t a benefit (e.g. we get it to you faster “which means that” you wont have so much down time, is a clear benefit, but if getting it to them faster only means it arrives with them quicker, then it is not).

Of course USP’s are vital for everyone, because it allows you to add value and charge more. If you can’t define your USP, then you are probably just another “me too”, and you will end up fighting for new clients on price alone!

I went to a seminar today. I haven’t been to one for a while, but as ever I learnt several new things, and have come back to the office full of new ideas as to what we could use to improve what we do. Making a commitment to taking action from what I have learned is essential, or else I would just be wasting my time listening to people, thinking “that’s a good idea” and doing nothing about it.

But perhaps most importantly it came home to me how much more sensible it is to use people from outside the business who specialise in certain areas, rather than try to do it all ourselves. Naturally I would always encourage any clients to save money where reasonably and sensibly possible, but if the discipline they are trying to do is not something they know much about, then it is almost certainly going to waste both their time and their money.

Time and time again, my clients will tell me that they will try “doing it first” before they call on outside help, and time and time again I advise them against it. Writing their own contracts, building their own websites, doing their own book-keeping are all great examples of a business owner wasting their time, if this is not their strength. Worse than that, it can actually turn out to be detrimental to the business. Taking the examples above, there are so many different types of contract, you are almost certain to make mistakes and potentially end up with a big cost, or your website may end up looking cheap and unprofessional, or the books/tax returns are not done properly, or late, and again you end up with a fine.

So remember, as a business owner, you are highly unlikely to be good at everything, so consider outside help before you commit lots of time and money to a lost cause. Perhaps you should even consider a Business Coach.