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In my work advising food entrepreneurs, I always ask them to answer these three questions: Why does the world need your product or service? Why now? And why are you and your team the best to execute on this idea?
In the answers, I determine whether the idea is unique or redundant to the current market. If it is redundant, I send them back to refine the concept so it has a chance to stand out. If it is unique, we further define the characteristics that will protect it from competitors or copycats. The more you can create characteristics that are so unique to that brand that no one else can replicate it, the deeper the moat a business can build.
Timing is also important. Too early and you might fail to meet people where they are at and instead get lost. Too late and you might find yourself in the middle, diluted by market noise. Timing a business is like catching a great wave: patience, preparation and intense paddling just at the right time. There are only a few brands that can ever claim pioneer status in an industry. Earning and owning this badge carries credibility that can keep the moat deep for many years.
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Finally and most importantly, I look for self-awareness of capacity. Can you pull this off? Do you have the experience, skill, time and tenacity to win? Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Howard Shultz all built brands around their visions of the world. A founder who leads charismatically with a fearless commitment to disruption can design a personality moat around their brand that is difficult to penetrate.
For those already building a business with some success, the exercise may look slightly different. How closely do the values described in the original deck match up with current behavior? What surprises have shifted your perspective? Are there some promises that have gone unrealized? In other words, what gaps remain between who we wanted to be and who we are today? This comes in the form of a SWOT analysis to establish self-awareness. From this point of baseline assessment, an entrepreneur can evolve from a revised platform, thus setting priorities that address weaknesses, deepening strengths, taking advantage of opportunities and protecting against competitive or outside threats.
Young brands can too often exist in an ad hoc state. Intuition and real-time iteration are powerful, but planning is key for sustained growth. It is helpful to establish a clear vision for the company if it is to grow intentionally. A brick-and-mortar business needs a road map for development, which requires a capital strategy to fund. Such a strategy needs a clear vision for future value potential. This helps to motivate key team members to work toward that potential so that they share in the wealth creation. If achieved, this gives everyone credibility and know-how to launch new businesses or help others hoping for similar results.
None of this happens fast. Imagining what your brand might be in the future is key as an aspirational true north. Articulating a vision of your future self helps align everyone around a common goal. By connecting one’s unique qualities to a better future self, a brand can execute with discipline day by day toward the defined destination. Along the journey, find opportunities to deepen the competitive moat with truly ownable moments. What is that for your brand? What is that for you as an individual?
