Stop Trying to Be Everything to Everyone

So many job shops fall into the trap of trying to be everything to everyone, but instead of that making them more versatile and creative, it limits their potential to grow, land bigger and better projects, and gain profitability.

It essentially makes you the same as everyone else, which means you’re always competing on price and delivery time. It makes you a commodity and it makes you disposable.

Not only that, but you’re always having to reinvent the wheel, solve new problems, buy new tools, find new suppliers, etc., etc. While the variety may keep you on your toes, it also makes you inefficient, which takes away from your profit margin. It can feel like you’re always putting out fires and never getting ahead, which can really wear down you and your team after a while. Let's be honest, if you're doing all the things, you're probably not an expert in any of them.

If you want to get out of this hamster wheel of death and become a Radical job shop that makes big profits and even bigger impact, you have to niche down as much as possible and OWN that niche. What the hell does “niche down” mean and how does it help you get ahead? “Niching,” also called “neeshing” depending on who you ask, is a fancy term marketers use to describe the act of zeroing in and carving out a small distinct corner of a given market. This can be done by narrowing the products and services you offer, the way you offer them, the customers you target, or a combination of the three.

Narrowing your offering and prospect base might sound counterintuitive, but it is the smartest, most effective way to grow your business into a lasting legacy. You wouldn’t go to Taco Bell for a burger, would you? Of course not! Nor would you go there for gourmet tacos made with creative local ingredients. When you go to Taco Bell, you know exactly what to expect, which is why the fast-food chain has become a top global player in the last 50 years, taking significant market share from giants like McDonald's and Burger King, and completely overtaking Wendy’s. The franchise has also carved out a niche for itself as an innovator by coming up with creative products and embracing new technologies and processes.

But Taco Bell is a fast-food chain, not a job shop, so how does this apply to your business?

Ok, I’ll give you a more relatable example. Nearly a decade ago, I was working as the marketing manager for a now 10-million dollar job shop that had over 50 employees. The company has a broad range of capabilities from plasma cutting to welding to building complex mechanical assemblies and control panels, along with a small engineering team. They could sell these capabilities to virtually any industry, but instead, they’ve focused on very specific markets, selling a small handful of specialty wash systems.

These made-to-order systems are designed to wash and maintain heavy-duty equipment in remote, often very dirty working environments. While each system sold is unique based on the customer’s needs, every order starts from one of a few base models. Of course, their offering has evolved over time as they’ve discovered better ways of doing things, new technology has become available, and market needs have evolved, but their core products and the markets they serve have pretty much remained the same.

Concentrating on this small handful of target markets with a few key product offerings has not only made them experts in their field but has also made for a highly profitable business. When you have a clear vision and you resolve yourself to consistently work toward that vision day in and day out, everything in your business will become smoother. You will eventually stop feeling overworked and start feeling confident and excited about growing your business. So, what steps do you need to take to stop being everything to everyone and start taking control of your destiny and increasing your confidence and profit margins?

1. Identify your special sauce–or your niche.

2. FOCUS all your energy on developing your niche.

3. Consolidate and eliminate distractions.

4. OWN that special sauce.

Let’s break these down one by one.

Identify your special sauce.

For the shop I used to work for, the main ingredient in their special sauce was their unique product offering of self-contained wash systems with built-in water recovery and recycling designed for maintaining massive, heavy-duty vehicles, like tanks, airplanes, and giant backhoes and dump trucks. So how do you identify yours?

Start by asking the right questions to get really clear on who you are and what you want: Why did you get into this business in the first place? Why do you keep working at it? What do you want to get out of it? What part of your business gets you most excited? What parts do you dread? What do we do better or differently than other shops? Which of our customers love working with us the most? Which of them do we love most? Why do these customers stand out? Which of our services do we enjoy delivering most? Which are most profitable? This one is key! Are there certain industries or types of customers we work with best? Are there certain industries we’re especially interested in that we're not currently in?

This is deep, difficult work that requires a very high level of thought and honesty with yourself. Every single shop I’ve gone through this exercise with has struggled to answer these questions. But this has to be the first step. At Marketing Metal, we call this the Setup™. Just like in machining, the Setup is often the hardest part, but it’s also most important.

Don’t worry, we made you a handy DIY version of this exercise which you can download at the end of the video. It should take you about 2 hours to go through the entire thing. Make sure to keep this document handy so you can refer back to it for planning and strategy. Get as detailed as you possibly can and look for patterns in your responses so you can start to tease out all the ingredients that make up your special sauce.

FOCUS all your energy on developing your niche.

In the case of the wash systems builder, they had found a lot of success targeting the military, so one very smart move they made was hiring a salesman with decades of experience and contacts in the armed forces in order to expand further into that market. We developed military-specific marketing materials that spoke to the distinct pain points of the squadrons responsible for maintaining this equipment and started attending military-focused trade shows. The company has since more than doubled that business in just a few years. It was easier and more profitable because they already had their foot in the door.

Once you know your special sauce and have a clear vision for your shop’s future, the next step is to focus your efforts in that direction. This is the second hardest part for job shops because most are very creative and don’t want to limit themselves. You started a job shop because you love solving problems and making new and interesting things. You probably have a lot of different passions and skillsets and you don’t want to miss out on opportunities to exercise them. And you definitely don’t want to conform to a rigid structure like the big manufacturers do.

Trust me, I get it. I’m a very creative person who loves bending rules and hates standardized processes, but the important thing to remember is that you are NOT your shop. Focusing your business efforts does not mean you’re limiting your life. In fact, the opposite is true. When you have a profitable, successful business, you open up doors you could never have imagined for yourself. And contrary to what you might think, your focused work will still be plenty exciting and challenging–likely even more so because you’ll realize hidden potential you never knew you had. You’ll feel proud that you’ve built something that is unique to you and stands for something instead of just serving bigger companies with deeper pockets.

Hopefully by now, you're starting to see the benefits of having a laser focus. So how do you make that focus work for you? You invest in it. That might mean buying new tools and equipment, learning new skills, hiring the right people, developing strategic partnerships, seeking expert advice, attending trade shows, making new connections on Linkedin, or updating your website and marketing materials.

When your business is only generating the minimum cash flow to survive and you’re grinding hard to keep that cash flow intact, it’s hard to prioritize these things. But if you ever want your business to move beyond the paycheck to paycheck model, you HAVE to invest in things that will differentiate it from other job shops. It’s just as important to invest in the strategic growth of your business as it is to invest in things like machines and tools.

If you want to get really good at one particular thing, take the time to practice. If you’re always dropping the ball in a specific area, brainstorm with your team on ways to fix it. If you’re eager to get more work in a certain industry, start reading trade publications and going to shows. If you struggle to grow and satisfy your team, sign up for a leadership workshop. Join a roundtable with other shop owners that will teach you new strategies and perspectives, hold you accountable, and celebrate your wins with you–this one was a turning point for me. It was really hard to justify the time and cost at first, but now I see it as a necessity.

The old proverbs, “you have to spend money to make money,” and “fortune favors the brave,” are absolutely TRUE. You have to have the courage to step outside your comfort zone and invest in building a smart business model that has the potential to grow into something bigger and more sustainable.

Consolidate and eliminate distractions.

Developing a niche takes patience, commitment, and a whole lot of that laser focus. You have to be strategic with what you choose to take on and when. That said, you can’t just decide on your niche one day and start turning away business that doesn’t fit the next. But you also have to be conscious to avoid shiny objects syndrome–or SOS, as I call it. Because in the long run, allowing yourself to get distracted by what might seem like easy money can actually cost you precious time and energy that you could otherwise be investing in your Radical vision, which will ultimately generate better returns. You really have to understand these opportunity costs and always be weighing them against the bigger picture.

For example, the owners of the specialty wash system business at one point decided to start selling custom fabrication services to their local market in an effort to offset the cost of their plasma cutter, but all they really did was throw away valuable resources and limit their capacity to sell their higher profit systems. Another example is when they tried to break into the sporting industry with a golf club washing system simply because one of the owners loved to golf. That product never sold a single unit and took a ton of effort to develop and market. I worked with their sales team just last year on a new website and messaging and they were still complaining about that project, nearly a decade later.

In other words, diverting from your niche can be extremely costly, not just in wasted resources and potential earnings, but in things like employee morale too.

So, start by looking at your least profitable work. Is there anything you can do to consolidate it? Another one of my customers used to be inundated with farmers coming in randomly to fix some part for their tractor. This was an important service to the community and it had been going on for 25 years, so even though they were disrupting the shop, the new owner felt like he couldn’t say “no” to them. Instead of turning them away completely, we set aside a couple of hours a week where the farmers could pay a small fee to come in and fix their tractor parts. It was a win-win. My customer was able to remove distractions from the shop, cover costs, and continue to support the farmers in his community.

For me, consolidating and removing distractions was game-changing. Before that, I felt like I was always behind, always working to keep customers happy, and could never find the time to market my own business. But by only offering the front-end strategic work that I loved and cutting out the tedious social media management and email marketing services I hated--something most agencies see as a necessary evil–I lifted a huge weight off myself. I started executing client work in 1- to 3-day interactive sprints instead of managing multiple projects at once. This allows me to get clients everything they need to be successful in a tiny fraction of the time it would normally take. It also cuts out the neverending back and forth review process, saving both me and my clients a ton of time and headspace.

I also cut out most of my contractors who hogged up a ton of energy and were never worth what I paid them. Then I swore off ongoing retainer work–the exact opposite of what every business coach told me to do. I kept the retainer contracts I already had intact to keep cash flow coming in, but I streamlined the work by blocking off time in my calendar every month to knock it out so I could focus the rest of my energy on building my own brand. In just a few months, my work has already become infinitely more meaningful and exciting to me AND more valuable to my customers. Of course, I was honest with my customers who weren’t job shops about what I was up to while assuring them I would continue meeting their needs.

So, think about how you can make your current work more efficient to free up time that you can invest in developing your niche. Can you create a self-serve option for current customers? Or outsource some of your low-margin work? Can you designate one day a week to hammer out all those little miscellaneous jobs that always disrupt your day? Can you use block scheduling and hide out at a coffee shop when you need uninterrupted computer time? Or maybe you can outsource work that you hate doing? Like prospecting and outbound sales or purchasing or finance? Figure out where your time is most valuable and delegate everything else whenever possible.

OWN your special sauce.

Whatever your vision is, you have to OWN your special sauce if you want it to be powerful and effective. That means, putting your personality and your newly focused offering front and center in everything you do, so it better be something you feel comfortable shouting from the rooftops. Put it on your website, your social media accounts, your business cards, your email signature, and any brochures or videos you use. Buy t-shirts and hats for you and your team. Host a themed open house that somehow ties into your new message–and don’t forget to write a press release about that you can send to local media or industry publications! Going through these motions will give you a huge confidence boost.

An easy way to develop your confidence in your message is by sharing it with all your connections. Don't be precious about it, just do it! Start with connections you’re most comfortable with. And by “sharing,” I mean, calling them on the phone, requesting a video chat, or meeting them for coffee. This is a great way to practice articulating your message over and over again. Ask for feedback, but don't sweat it if not everyone gets it or likes it. To be loved by some means being misunderstood, or even disliked, by others. If you hear words of caution or criticism, that likely just means those people are not your target market. Your message will probably evolve over time as you learn and grow--that's OK!

The first step to owning MY special sauce was to change my messaging to attract the ambitious job shop customers that I loved working with. I began using a bold, rebellious brand voice and talking about all the things job shops hate about marketing (which were abundant). I developed key phrases that people would come to recognize me by like, "Radical Job Shops Make Big Impact and Bigger Profits," and "Radical Results Require a Radical Approach." I started writing articles about my unique approach, connecting with new people in the industry, and appearing on podcasts--which is how I got the opportunity to share my expertise on this platform.

Remember how I said this would be easier if you have a clear vision and the devotion to see it through? This is where you really start to see that in action. The more you talk about your vision, the better you will get at the delivery. And the more positive feedback and new ideal connections you get out of this, the more excited you will be about it, which will continue propelling you forward. Staying excited about your idea despite setbacks can be tough sometimes. I've found it helps to write down your why every day–why you do what you do–in whatever words come to you in that moment.

So, what's your special sauce? How can you develop it further? What can you do to reduce distractions? And how are you going to embody your special sauce in everything you do?BE RADICAL