What is your small business doing...now?

When a potential client, employee, collaborator or investor asks you these days, “What are your small business’s capabilities?” How do you respond? If you don’t have a precise, concise and cohesive way of articulating your core competencies and areas of expertise in 30 seconds flat in a way that is relevant to doing business while maintaining safe distancing practices – don’t despair. You have an opportunity to get prepared to tap into new business opportunities!  

Capturing the attention of someone who is interested enough to ask, may be the difference between landing that new account, snagging that highly qualified professional to become part of your team, establishing an exciting new strategic partnership or securing the capital you need to help your business survive today’s economic turmoil and grow to the next level.  

There are 3 primary considerations to leverage as you work on refining and improving your Capabilities Statement: 

1. Take a hard look at your core competencies or areas of expertise.

In today’s very competitive global marketplace, small businesses must be able to articulate what their core competencies are and in a way that will appeal to a variety of audiences. In the 2013 article, “Core competencies for business excellence”, author R. K. Gupta defined an organization’s core competency as:

…a unique capability acquired by a firm over a period of time in form of a resource, operations facility, specially skilled manpower, know how or delivery of service which gives the firm sustainable competitive advantage in fixture in quality, design, production or distribution of a product/service or in cost of the product and is viewed as a relative value addition by a prospective customer.

So, what are those unique skills, products, experiences or industry attributes that your small business can deliver exceptionally? List 3-5 competencies that your small business offers and feature examples of past or current performance that exemplifies your exceptional work in said competencies. And remember, it’s OK to showcase your work – if you’re good at what you do, now is the time to flaunt it!   

2. Identify and display the hell out of your points of differentiation.

There is a philosophical argument that no idea, product or service is an original thought, but it is the perspective, experience, how it is communicated or the person communicating it that makes it unique. If this is true, there are other small businesses that do what you do in your community, industry, nationally and globally. However, there are specific qualities, offerings, perspectives or solutions that your small business brings to the table that stand out. It can also be a unique combination of certain areas of expertise. Research your top 3 immediate competitors, and the 3 most successful companies in your industry, nationally. What do you provide that they do not? Or, what experience do you create for your clients that they do not? Identifying your differentiators will help articulate your competitive edge over others. And by looking at what industry leaders are doing you will be able to position your ability to deliver the same or better outcomes than bigger businesses who are likely to be less cost efficient than you. Keep in mind that during the current crisis a key differentiator is being able to provide solutions that are nimble. 

3. Gather extra documentation that could help you even the playing field. 

Aside from the basics you need to have lined-up to vie for more lofty or new revenue opportunities such as a business license, liability insurance, worker’s comp, permits, etc., there are two factors that can help get you access and a fair shot.

? Are you a minority, woman, LGBTQ+ or veteran owned small business? If your answer is “Yes”, then get certified as such! There are systematic barriers that prevent you from having equal access to compete for certain contracting opportunities and being certified as a Women/Minority Business Enterprise (W/MBE) will give you that access. NOTE: Many big companies are now finally celebrating diversity and have set up Supplier Diversity departments that require them to meet certain quotas in terms engaging with diverse vendors and contracting a percentage of their overall purchasing expenditures to them. There are local, state and national entities that you can get certified with. Here’s a list of national qualified certifying organizations, but it’s so much easier to start with your local government’s City or County minority certification division. 

? Do you know the NAICS codes to your primary business functions or offerings? If you answered “No”, you may want to get on this now. NAICS stands for the North American Industry Classification System established by the Federal government to classify companies by industry. This is how big business (public, private and nonprofit sectors) identify the products or services they need to contract to outside vendors through their Purchasing Department. So, if you want to land bigger contracts, or even apply for a Small Business Loan, you need to know what your NAICS codes are because big business is going to ask. Here’s a resource with Frequently Asked Questions on this topic, including a link to search for your NAICS codes.

Once you have explored the considerations above, package all this information into a one page Capabilities Statement. Organize it in a way that is easy to understand, highlights your unique areas of expertise and business attributes while using language that will lure in your target audiences. Then, make it sexy. Yes, sexy. Apply your business’s branding or graphic design approach to make it attractive. Word of caution: don’t be too wordy and don’t use clip art. By completing this exercise, you will be ready to tap into new business opportunities. If you need assistance developing your core competencies one-pager, it pays off to seek seek expert help! These are things that can be done remotely to favorably impact your small business.