The “What Am I?” Of Small Business

One of puzzlingly difficult things that many small businesspeople face is being able to comfortably tell others what it is they do. In business-speak, this is sometimes referred to as an “elevator speech”. Call it whatever you want to:  it still means that many of us choke up and/or ramble moronically when asked, “So…what do you do?” 

I know this because until I figured out how to boil the essence of my business down to one sentence, I knew the pain of eyes facing me, glazed over in boredom, and of furtive glances being sneaked at watches.  In my case, I fell clearly into the “rambler” mode of business communication, not the “choke up” mode.  It was really amazing:  once I opened my mouth, it was as if it had been possessed by a talking hamster on speed. Sentences ceased having ending points, or even commas.  On and on I’d go, afraid, I guess, that if I stopped, my conversation partner would actually ask me something specific, and then I’d really be in deep.  I had to do something. 

So here’s what I did, and what anyone can do when it comes to this kind of problem.  I practiced.  Duh!  Practice in front of a mirror, practice with your spouse or partner, practice with your pets (at least they won’t criticize).  It helps, too, to ask a friend or business colleague (someone who likes you) to sit down with you and ask you pointed questions about your business.  The idea here is to get down to the essence of what you do, or sell, or provide, and be able to clearly state it in a sentence or two, when you only have thirty seconds to tell someone.  (Get it?  That’s why it’s called an “elevator speech”….)

Here are a few questions to ask yourself (or have someone ask you) about your business, and you can assemble the answers into a short description to use when someone asks you that all-important question. 

1. What is my product or service?  (What am I selling?)
2. Who is my primary target audience (Who buys my stuff?)
3. Where is my product or service available? (Where do I sell it?)

You can see this is definitely not rocket science.  But, and this is a big but, many small businesspeople find it very hard to say “No” to customers when they first start out, and find themselves in the mindset of trying to be all things to all people.  This can make getting to the essence of your business hard to do.  Of course you can’t be all things to all people, but those of us new in business can’t stand the thought of telling a potential customer “No”, even if we really can’t provide them with the product or service they’re looking for. 

So if you’re one of those unfortunate few, like me, who gets either tongue-tied or flappy-jawed in business conversations, take a deep breath and give these suggestions a try.  Before you know it, you’ll actually find yourself in an elevator, where the person standing next to you will actually ask you, “So…what do you do?”, and you’ll be able to actually say, ”I……….”.  And after that first time, you’ll find it easier and easier to talk about your business like a normal person, and never have to face those glazed eyes again.