Position Your Business Number 1

Is your business feeling very much like one fish in a heavily populated pond? Are you scanning the earth and moon for ways to steal a trick on your competitors and pave a way for success? In this article I want to make you open your eyes and focus, not just on differentiation, but actually positioning your company number 1 in your marketplace. You may know that sometimes the key to success is timing. What you may not know is that time is now.

It doesn't matter what industry you are in, chances are you are either the first people to start doing what it is you do and have now got numerous competitors chomping at your heals. Or you're doing the chomping. How you do it, how you talk about it, and how you look may be different, but wrap it up any way you like, you're probably all doing the same thing. So what do you do about it?

In case you haven't noticed, it's 2012. We're knee deep in technology and we're all scrapping to use Facebook and Twitter to sell our products and services. But actually ask yourself this, what are you doing about becoming a 21st century company? We're 21 years into the great information era. That's adulthood. So we should now be at the point of knowing what works and what doesn't. Open your eyes and look around you. You probably have a smart phone sitting on your desk, or you're reading this on your tablet. Do not underestimate the influence these machines have had on us as a consuming public. These devices have opened up technology to everybody now. We're no longer scared of technology. Technology has matured and is now finally creating real world solutions, generating business and changing the game.

Now really open your eyes.

Ok, I accept, this is not revolutionary speak. I know you've been around the block for a while now and you've investigated the options available to you. But I'm telling you, we are entering a new era, right now, at this very moment. You can't see it unless you open your eyes. The stars are aligning for technology. The research is done, the tools are in place, the creative professionals are rubbing their hands together, and the consumers are educated and willing.

It's a new era because of the new mutual respect that technology and design now have for each other. Both have been in their adolescence for so long now, but they are finally becoming exceedingly good at what they need to do. Technology is providing the powerful platforms for well designed software to exist. Websites and apps are doing a better job for business because designers are more educated on what works and have greater creative freedom, whilst customers know instinctively how to use them.

So the next question is, how can this new harmony of technology and design generate business for your company? Ask yourself how you can place technology at the heart of your company going forward, whether that is for your customers or your employees. Ask them what they need. Then talk to a creative digital company to see what they can suggest and challenge them to surpass the audiences expectations. Find the problem first. Find the solution second. Surpass expectations third.

It's very easy to say 'surpass expectations'. But this is where the design comes in. We all know what computers and technology can do, but with intelligent, well thought out and well presented design, you will achieve the unexpected. I can not stress enough how vital this is to the success of your product. Compromising on design is unacceptable, and it will only be a matter of time before someone comes along and does it better than you. Do that, and you will hear this - 'Wow, I wasn't expecting that' - And that’s the golden ticket to becoming number 1.

When I was writing this article, 2 examples I use on the iPhone were in the forefront of my mind. If you don’t own an idevice (or it doesn’t own you) then you may feel put-out by this. It’s also worth noting that Android is the most used smartphone OS in the UK – but iPhone hardware and software is setting the benchmark for mobile computing and that’s why I opt in to the iOS platform. There was another example of this being developed for desktop, but it highly top secret, it was a good example of a company looking to technology and design to create an emotional connection with their target audience that would set them apart from their competitors.

So if you are a hairdressers, there may be a million hairdressing apps out there, but are any of them good enough? If you are a finance company, how could you help your clients manage their funds using pioneering technology? These are the things you need to be placing at the top of your business agenda.

Examples

Path for iPhone

Clear for iPhone

Microsoft Windows 8 beta

Mac OSX Mountain Lion