Differentiating your service business and standing out in a crowded B2B marketplace can be tough. Today I am discussing how to do that with my guest, John Ravaris.

John is the founder of UVPsolutions®, creator of the proprietary 4D Roadmap®, and author of “Define Value, Drive Growth”—all dedicated to helping small and medium-sized businesses differentiate, define their unique value, and drive growth.

We dive into topics and answers to questions including:

● Josh’s origin story about his passion for differentiation.
● Where do you begin when you set out to differentiate yourself and your business?
● How do you discover and connect your business with a bigger purpose in life?
● How do you combine your culture and values to become the cornerstone of the strength of your business?
● The concept of “strength buckets” and how to find and fill yours.
● How do you create a purpose for your business and further differentiate your business in the marketplace?
● How do you develop go-to market strategies by embracing your differentiating principles?
● The importance of connecting your organizational strengths to what your clients and prospects are trying to achieve.
● The importance of value creation when creating a growth plan for your business.
● Why does problem solving for your clients and prospects need to be a focus point to successfully differentiate yourself?
● How problem solving and success factors need to be woven together in your offerings to create lasting value.
● How to best stand out and differentiate yourself even in saturated markets.
● Why we’ve graduated from selling features to selling benefits and now from selling benefits to selling outcomes.
● Why 70%-80% of the buying decision is made before the prospect interacts with your organization and how to use that to your advantage.
● How to find out what outcomes your prospects want from your company and then how to deliver them.
● How to sustain differentiation in your marketplace once you’ve achieved it.
● The key component to continued growth as you gain momentum in your marketplace.
● Why “what got you here won’t get you there” and the need to be ready to pivot and change as you grow.
● The one thing, above all else, that you need to do to successfully differentiate yourself in a crowded B2B marketplace.

…and other golden nuggets of advice!

Why try to figure things out when you can get help along the way? Too many entrepreneurs try to be lone wolves when help is just an email or phone call away. I discuss how to create a Wisdom Accelerator of Mentors in this episode with my guest, Kevin Kinsella.

Kevin's formal education (starting as a CPA and then his UC Booth MBA) was geared toward big business. He quickly pivoted into small business in his 20's, however! Since founding his first business (#59 on INC. Magazine's 500 Fastest Growing Companies in 1991), to today having coached and advised 100+ small business owners (over the past decade), he is forced to be state-of-the-art to best support his ever-aspiring entrepreneurial owners.

We dive into topics and answers to questions including:

● Kevin’s origin story in the entrepreneurial world.
● Why is the need for vulnerability so important if you want to learn and grow faster than you could alone?
● How do you begin reaching out to potential mentors to learn from their wisdom and life experiences?
● Why does technology like AI makes it even more difficult to learn faster?
● Why are people, especially entrepreneurs, afraid to be vulnerable?
● Why do entrepreneurs need to be resilient to stay the course?
● Why do other people try to bring you down or encourage you to give up?
● What are some of the benefits of being vulnerable?
● Why is understanding that people just want to be heard such an important business tool?
● What are qualities to look for in a mentor?
● Where do you go to find mentors?
● What does approaching people for help or mentorship look like?
● How do you have meaningful mentoring conversations?
● What do meaningful mentoring conversations look like?
● What questions should you ask your mentors?
● Why don’t many entrepreneurs want to be held accountable?
● What are the ingredients to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
● How do you drive a mentoring relationship forward after your first conversation?
● How can you help your mentors and give back to them?
● Why do people need to be taught to ask better questions?
● The one thing, above all else, you need to do to create your own Wisdom Accelerator Program of mentors.

…and other golden nuggets of advice!

Being an entrepreneur is a roller coaster ride; exhilarating in both good and scary ways. In this episode I discuss how to keep your personal and professional sanity while growing your business with guest, Mark Hartmann.

Mark is a mergers and acquisitions advisor selling businesses valued from $1 Million-$25 Million. He’s the author of “Sweat Equity Payday”.

We dive into topics including:

● Mark’s origin story of becoming and entrepreneur and keeping his sanity.
● The importance of focusing on and finding your niche for your services.
● Why Mark believes most people strive to become entrepreneurs.
● Guidelines to keep your personal and professional sanity while the grind is going on.
● Work-life balance in the entrepreneurial space and how it can affect your world.
● The benefits of having that ONE thing you’re great at and building a business around it.
● How to determine your unique addressable market to go after for clients.
● How to know when it’s time to add a new industry to your target market and how to do it.
● The difference between hunting for new clients and getting referrals as a growth strategy.
● The importance of becoming a thought leader in your industry and how to do it.
● How to figure out which social media platforms you should invest your time on.
● How to keep on keepin’ on during the tough times when you’re an entrepreneur.
● The one thing, above all else, that you must do to keep your personal and professional sanity as a growing entrepreneur…

…and other golden nuggets of advice!