Why being different is difficult

How many times have we all been told that it pays to be different?

What we weren’t told is just how difficult being different can actually be.

When I started my first business in 2007, nobody had ever heard of bike sharing, let alone the dockless model we had created.

“So it’s like Zipcar for bikes?” was a common question.

When I started working at an energy efficiency company in 2009, my grandmother told all her friends that her grandson was an engineer because she didn’t know how to explain what I did in any other way.

I guess energy auditing wasn’t something easily explainable at the mahjong table.

Even today, when I tell people that I’m a Scalability Consultant, nobody has ever met someone with that title before. And though it makes for a great conversation starter, it also means that I have to overcome a bit of an education hurdle when I meet new people.

So sure, there are boundless benefits of being different. But when you’re one of a kind - or one of a few - it comes with a bucket of challenges as well. Because when you’re on a path that few have ventured, there’s no playbook to follow. No formula to execute. You have to figure it out as you go.

And let me tell you, it’s hard and messy work.

My wonderfully different clients

When I started BE Lean seven years ago, I didn’t set out to find companies who were doing things differently. But somehow or another, they found me.

Now when I talk about companies that are different or unique, you might think that means I work with the coolest new startups and tech companies.

But that’s not usually the case.

No, the companies that I work with are much more interesting. 😉

Some are in niche industries, like the houseplant wholesaler and the energy market trader.

Some are boutique or expert firms, like the Gen Z marketing agency and the engineering firm that specializes in compressed air systems.

And some are just out there, like the world famous AArrow Sign Spinners (those guys spinning the ad signs on street corners and commercials are actually an international franchise if you can believe it).

These companies have a disadvantage that more common businesses often don’t.

The advantage of sameness

Common businesses face common problems that have common solutions.

When a law firm has a challenge, there’s a good chance there are other law firms that have faced the same problem.

When a medical practice needs help growing their business, there’s an entire industry of consultants that exist specifically to help medical practices like theirs.

And when an HVAC company is looking for a better way to schedule and manage appointments, there are a plethora of technology solutions that were built specifically for home services businesses.

But what do you do when you’re a houseplant wholesaler in need of a new inventory management solution?

Or if you’re a college marketing firm that needs to streamline the way you recruit influencers and manage your marketing campaigns?

Or if you’re a sign spinning business that wants to automate your scheduling and billing processes to be more efficient and profitable?

You might try to ask around your network only to realize you really don’t know anyone going through the same situation.

You might turn to Google to research best practices or find technology solutions, only to end up pulling your hair out in the process.

You might even talk to a consulting firm that tries to sell you on an approach they’ve done for countless other companies who are actually nothing like yours.

So in the end, you end up just figuring it out yourself.

And figuring it out yourself works pretty well for a while. But as you grow, figuring it out yourself becomes building it yourself, and building it yourself becomes fixing it yourself.

And before you know it, you’re exhausted and everything’s a mess.

You’ve hit a wall, and you know that to scale, you can’t keep figuring it out on your own.

That wall is why being different is difficult.

Because when there isn’t a model for you to follow, and there aren’t solutions designed just for you, you end up figuring it out on your own. And that gets messy.

But I get you.

I get you because I’ve been you.

And you don’t have to figure it out on your own any more.

I love helping businesses take what makes them special and make it scalable. From the structure of their business model all the way down to the nuts and bolts of their processes and systems.

Because what I’ve learned over the 15 years I’ve been running, growing, and serving unique businesses is that there is a gold mine of ideas, intellectual capital, and talent that just needs the right systems and structure to unleash its true potential.

So if you’re a business that wants to scale what makes you special, let’s talk.