It’s a race
As a species, we’ve always been striving to make everything faster/easier for us. Content on the internet is constantly getting smaller and smaller, making grabbing anyone’s attention is getting harder. Alongside this race mentality comes a ton of noisy “information”, as it is extremely difficult to be quick and precise when doing any kind of content, whether this is your business summary or a TikTok video.
Sending a message
In terms of getting your business out there, which has been my problem for the last 1-2 years, I realize that it’s extremely important to dumb down your message as much as possible. Simple missions always have the highest chances of success. You have to be able to describe what you do in 1-2 sentences. Then you have to evaluate how you feel about those two sentences. Do they make sense? Would you believe someone if they told you something similar? I started with the message of “Digitalizing Business Workflows”, which essentially means nothing. It’s the most generic statement a Software company can have.
These days I’m trying to both narrow down my target audience and my narrative about it. My goal is to contribute to the creation of a diverse market by delivering hand-crafted, affordable software to small-to-medium enterprises so that they can rival their bigger counterparts.
To achieve this:
- I use lean software practices that make no assumptions about business problems. I listen to a problem, design and deliver.
- I don’t believe that software is always the correct choice. Sometimes a sheet of paper can do the work better.
- I have minimized my profit margins, to stay affordable and competitive. Right now, I prefer having fewer clients that make a bigger impact, rather than trying to reach too many people and get lost in the process.
Having the ability to zero in is an incredible asset in our times. The average person out there is swarmed by the plethora of choices and thus their cognitive abilities are constantly challenged when trying to find the optimal solution for their problem. Avoid generalizing your narrative. Be specific. You won’t be able to provide your services to everyone. And you shouldn’t. Try starting with “a few”. Create a network through which your ideal customers can find you with the least amount of friction. This network is as valuable as your value proposition.
Consciously try to reduce the noise.
Advice
I typically close my articles with a piece of advice that I would appreciate if I had when I started - If you are a Software Engineer who is considering going solo and trying to grab a market share for themselves, you definitely can do it. Make sure you:
- Focus on what you provide to society - refine your process - make it concise - do your research.
- Construct a clean and short narrative so that anyone can understand what you do.
- Get the word out - spend your time connecting with those you can impact the most.
George Spanos