What’s your Business X Factor?

THE MALTA CHAMBER HEAD OF MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGY, RACHEL ATTARD

“It is not easy to stand out from your competitors in today’s world. What you need to keep in mind are the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents.”

For a moment imagine that you want to become a famous artist or pop star. This means you are going to put yourself in one of the most competitive industries on the planet. Being born with a beautiful face or an amazing voice is not enough to make it out there. You could try the traditional route of putting together a demo track, find a manager and start knocking the doors of different music industry moguls.

Another route you could take is to try and audition for The X Factor singing competition. This will help you perform on a stage in front of a huge audience. At the same time, it is a platform run by influential people in the music and entertainment industry.

The same X Factor formula should apply to your company or business. Are you offering the right service at the right time? What makes your business different from the others? Do your customers speak highly of your business?

People are one of the most important factors in any business, and a big chunk of your success relies on them. You need to ask the question: who are my real clients? Obviously, you think, not everyone is your client. This is one of the most common mistakes in business. Having a high level of competition in your chosen niche or industry is a strong sign there is a demand for your service or product. Not having any sort of competition is really not a good sign because it can indicate that you are not on the right track.

A lot of people assume that having a strong online presence is crucial for your businesses. Yes, it is an essential element nowadays. But its not all about digital marketing and social media likes. No matter how many posts and videos you post, if you don’t have an established X Factor, your businesses will not stand out and your content needs to reflect this.

It is not easy to stand out from your competitors in today’s world. What you need to keep in mind are the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. This is very similar to what makes a good football coach. As a businessperson, you need to know what your customer’s wants, needs, fears and desires are. If you manage to ‘tick’ these four elements, your clients and employees will have room to grow and be able to help them to be more engaged. This will eventually lead to a greater organisational result.

In my experience, the entrepreneurial X Factor comes down to a dichotomy of two inborn traits. The first - and most important - aspect is creativity. Creativity is essentially the ability to discover and develop viable new business ideas. The second aspect is intuition, which means knowing who will be benefiting from your new ideas and how to sell those ideas. Basically – knowing who your target audience is. These two elements work in tandem.

In conclusion, the X Factor that will make your business unique is how your company approaches its relationships with people. If you communicate your values, beliefs and benefits well, people will trust you and your product or services. All this will create an environment where both the client and the organisation will grow and thrive together. M+S