Everybody is Beautiful by Daniel Kraft & Markus von Aschoff

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Everybody is Beautiful The Power of Differentiation

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everybodyisbeautiful.com

of the beholder.Beauty is in the eye

Plato

http://www.everybodyisbeautiful.com

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Your Business is Beautiful, we know this, and you might agree. In order to be successful as an entrepreneur,

you need your customers to believe it too.

We have spend many years helping new ideas to see the light of day, and watched them grow and succeed.

Looking back and researching why some of them worked and others failed led us to the idea behind

Everybody is Beautiful. Join us on a journey to discover the beauty of your business and learn about the

power of Differentiation.

We hope you enjoy reading our perspective and we encourage you to discuss the findings with your team.

We look forward hearing from you about your Next Step to make your ideas shine and to become even

more beautiful.

Daniel Kraft & Markus von Aschoff

Is

Beautiful

Everybody


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Cinderella was a young woman, living in unfortunate circumstances, but

they are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune. Why? She appeared in

front of her prince at just the right moment; magic happened, and they lived

happily ever after…

It seems likely that there were many women available to the prince at

that time, and given the strategic value of a relationship between two royal

families, it was clearly not the

smartest choice for him to pick

one of the poorest women. But

as symbolized by Cinderella’s

glass slipper – they simply fit.

Just as we all appreciate and enjoy beauty, it is often hard to explain it. Why

do we all fall in love with the little cute baby? Why does all our logic fly out

the window when we meet the love of our life? And do you remember

how much you adored that wreck of an apartment you used to live in just

because it was your first own place?

All these things have something in common: we love them.

And in our memories, they will always be the most beautiful moments in

our lives – they simply fit.

HappenMagic Can


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Now, if you think about it, each and everyone – and even everything – is

beautiful. You just need to find the right environment in which this beauty

is appreciated. Some of us are born into the right place and time, while

others – like Cinderella – need to work hard to make it happen.

When you look at your business you have two choices: you can cut your

toes like Cinderella’s two sisters in the fairy tale so that they fit the glass

slipper, or you can work hard to find the glass slipper that simply fits.

You should also realize that it was not just Cinderella’s life that changed,

she also changed the prince’s life for the better. A good match, in both

the personal and business worlds, is a win-win situation that makes sense

to both sides.

A MatchGood


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What you do.Who you are.

What Makes Your Business Beautiful?

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When two people meet in a romantic sense, the little details can make the difference between never meeting again and living their life together forever. In

business relationships, we also have particular details like those: we call them the ‘key differentiators’, as they have the ability to magically turn an ordinary busi-

ness relationship into something special. Basically, key differentiators are an expression of who you are and what you do.

Who you are:

It is important not to mistake who you are with who you want to be.

Just as you can’t keep a facade up for long in a personal relationship, you

can’t fake it in business. It is crucial to find out who you really are as an

organization.

•What do customers say about what you stand for?

•What makes your team unique, what are your customers saying?

•Is there anything about your corporate culture that makes you different?

What you do:

While this one may seem easy, you need to ask yourself what makes your

products and services special in the eyes of your customer. Think of your

first own apartment: do you remember the great furniture or do you re-

member the freedom you enjoyed so much? This is the moment you need

to put aside wishful thinking.

•Why did your customer really purchase your offering?

•What is the impact that you have had on the life of your customer?

•How do the people at your customer refer to your offering?


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Once you have your initial set of differentiators, the tricky part is to identify those differentiators that really matter – and then carve out your key differentia-

tors. The good thing is, you’re not alone in this exercise. Let’s evaluate them using two criteria.

Perceived Value:

When you look at your list of differentiators, you might realize that many

of them are written in the context of what you want them to be. In order

to boil the list down to the absolutely key differentiators, we have learned

that the perceived value to your customer is a very good measure. Maybe

you can have some of your customers (and maybe some partners) rank

each proposed differentiator by the value that they see the differentiator

providing to them. This gives you the opportunity to have a dialogue with

your customers, and it can provide a compelling outside-in perspective.

Sustainability of Differentiation:

By now you will have identified some really precious information about

who you are and what you do. In order to build a business, you need to

make sure that the differentiators you focus on are sustainable. Initially

you will want to check if you can protect them in some way, maybe even

registering and securing some sort of intellectual property rights for them,

such as patents. But you should also extend your thinking beyond the legal

aspects, and analyze each differentiator according to your ability to main-

tain it for the long haul.


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Be sure to include your partners and customers in the discussion to provide a complete picture. As a customer-centric organization, we suspect you are

already constantly scanning, observing and reflecting on what is happening in your environment. Why not apply the same discipline and awareness when as-

sessing your list of differentiators?


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We know that this too might be a painful process, and you may even

believe you already know the answers. But it is not just the feedback you

receive, it is the entire process of expressing the differentiators outside of

your organization and checking them for sustainability that adds value.

The good thing about this process is that it concentrates your focus on

the differentiators that really matter – the ones that are really key to the

business. And just like many individuals struggle their whole life to find

good relationships, our businesses need to constantly work on their key

differentiators to allow our princes to find us.

ThatDifferentiators SuccessAre Key To


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magic begin.Let the

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While everybody is beautiful, we have learned that it might be hard work

to find those true key differentiators to make that beauty shine. Now

it is time to take a deeper look in the mirror and reflect on what we

achieved so far.

The magic of beauty is that it is not just on the surface; it shines through

and through. Once you have found your key differentiators, it is time to

check if every part of your organization is empowered to shine when they

take those key differentiators into the field. Think of it like a second date.

You can’t wear your favorite shirt again, but if you are really meant for

each other, this won’t matter – the magic of love will do its job.

The same holds true for a business. You can’t send the CEO to every

meeting; the only way you can scale is to empower your entire organiza-

tion to live and breath the key differentiators. We have seen it many times:

If all employees are rallied behind a common goal, magic can happen! The

magic happens when all things align – we have an awesome pitch and we

deliver exactly what makes the customer happy.

So, let’s analyze our key differentiators against two additional criteria.

ShineBeautyMake The


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Can we pitch it?

Pitching in this context is not about selling. It is about the ability to

represent who you are and what you do in a consistent, inspiring – even

beautiful – manner that makes others believe in you and your ability to

deliver on your promises. Have your key differentiators and have them

represented by every layer of your organization. Starbucks is not about

coffee, it is about a reliable place to stop and recharge; some need the

quick option, others may sit down to have a break or to work on their

laptop. Starbucks promises all of that: fast order processing, a familiar

layout in every store, free wifi and power outlets. And of course – coffee.

While they buy the same basic coffee beans as everyone else, they know

how to pitch them.

Can we deliver it?

Just as important as your ability to pitch, you need to be able to deliver. It

is about preserving the magic when you first got your customer to believe

in you – and turning it into trust as you deliver on your promises.Does it

mean that you need to make every customer happy? No, but it is all about

the consistent foundation to allow the possibility for every customer to be

happy. This is an exercise that requires the entire organization to embrace

the key differentiators in their day-to-day work life.Think about Starbucks.

If you go into any store in the world and ask for a triple-grande-non-fat-

extra-dry-Cappuccino, the barista will know what you want. They might

not even speak English, but they will deliver. If you have pitched your story

based on your key differentiators and then you deliver on them, the

customer will respect you and trust will be built.


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Let’s pause for a moment and take a look back on your journey so far. You

identified a list of potential key differentiators, which express your beauty.

As a market-centric organization, you took an outside-in perspective and

prioritized the differentiators from the perspective of your customer – by

analyzing the perceived value for the customer and the sustainability of

your differentiation in the market. This led to a prioritized list of them,

which enabled you to identify your key differentiators. Then you took the

inside-out perspective and checked on your organization’s ability to pitch

and to deliver on the key differentiators. Great work!

This provides you with all the information you need to articulate the

current state of your ‘beauty-shining-level’ as a foundation to build on

and to measure progress.

LevelShiningBeautyArticulate


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So where are you now? Are you a marketing machine, much better

at pitching than delivering the key differentiators? Or are you a highly

sophisticated engineer, much better at delivery than telling the story?

It doesn’t really matter where you are right now. You have learned so

much in the process about who you are and what you do – you have

clearly defined your key differentiators. Take the next step and allow them

to shine, and embrace them throughout your entire organization. It might

take a while to get everybody internally to agree on the key differentia-

tors, and it might even be harder to implement them into your day-to-day

business. But this all provides you with an environment to understand

what it takes to make everybody see how beautiful you really are.


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Let’s think about Cinderella, one more time. We know is that she must have been an amazing person. With the help of her fairy godmother, she took up

all her courage, dressed up and allowed her beauty to shine for the ultimate pitch of her life. And when the time came, Cinderella was the only one able

to deliver. Always remember:

Step

The

Take

NextEverybody is Beautiful – You are Beautiful!


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The Authors

“Do or do not. There is no ‘try’” – Daniel Kraft is Managing Partner and

Co-Founder of ifridge & Company. An optimist with a passion for all things

new, Daniel is fascinated everyday with the energy, motivation and com-

mitment that unleashes when new ideas and people meet.

“If you can dream it, you can do it” – Markus von Aschoff is an Associate

Director at ifridge & Company. With a passion for translating between

technology creators and technology users, Markus has worked with many

clients on their strategic positioning.

ifridge & Company

Believing in new ideas and innovation, we help great people make them a reality. ifridge & Company was founded on 30 years of experience growing compa-

nies into market leaders. As a global team, we support innovative entrepreneurs to take their next step. Our 360-degree perspective as managers, advisors,

investors and shareholders is the right combination to help companies reach their business goals.

UsAbout


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We’d love to hear from you.

Website: ifridge.com

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Backstage: facebook.com/ifridge

North America: 419 Lafayette St., 2nd floor, New York, NY 10003

Europe: Weskampstr. 29, 26121 Oldenburg, Germany

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© 2011 ifridge & Company. All Rights Reserved.

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