Thursday, October 29, 2026
A lot of owners try the wrong format, see no shift, and decide coaching doesn't work for them. Here's what a peer room is actually good for, what 1:1 coaching is actually good for, and a 3-check way to pick.
You did the exercise. You sat down, wrote the positioning statement, maybe even put a line on the website about what makes you different. Then a prospect compared you to two competitors anyway, couldn't recall which one was "the different one," and picked on price.
Knowing what makes you different and being remembered for it are two different jobs. Most SME marketing stops at the first one.
Working on 60+ global brands at DDB, Ogilvy and Saatchi and Saatchi, the lesson repeats: brands don't win because they're different on paper. They win because the difference is impossible to miss, over and over, in the small details.
A positioning statement is a strategy document, not a marketing campaign. It sits in a folder, in your head, maybe on an About page nobody reads past the first line. Customers don't remember what you say about yourself once. They remember what they notice, repeatedly, across every touchpoint — your quote, your voicemail, your packaging, the way your team answers the phone. If none of that carries your difference, the strategy document achieves nothing.
Researcher Jenni Romaniuk, building on Byron Sharp's evidence on how brands actually grow, calls these "distinctive brand assets" — the specific, ownable signals (a colour, a phrase, a sound, a ritual) that let someone recognise you before they've even registered your name. Most SMEs have none, because nobody decided to build any.
One of my own light-and-sound installation clients put a single line on their office wall: "We are big in Japan." It wasn't a slogan anyone tested in a focus group. It was a specific, slightly cheeky signal that stuck with every client, every supplier, every new hire who walked through the door — far more than any positioning statement would have.
"Kevin, you distilled business, marketing and sales strategy into powerful simple concepts and actions with real life stories of your start-up business and corporate life. You walk the talk with empathy and passion. Feedback has been off the charts. The energy in the room was palpable."
— Nikki, MahiTahi / The Colab
Owners skip this step because it feels like decoration after the "real" work of deciding what makes them different. It isn't decoration — it's the only part of the job a customer actually experiences. Deciding your difference is a strategy exercise. Making it recognisable is a marketing system, built and checked touchpoint by touchpoint, which is exactly where most SME marketing plans run out of steam.
This isn't for you if you're comfortable being accurately described and still instantly forgotten.
If people can't repeat back what makes you different, your marketing isn't finished — it's just started.
Sunday, September 06, 2026
A 2026 survey of 1,500 business owners found 32% have never taken a full week off. Kevin D'Ambros-Smith on why that's a systems problem, not dedication — and what the regret data reveals about coaching and support.
Sunday, September 06, 2026
Most SME growth plans have one forecast and no backup. Here's how to build a 90-day roadmap with base, stretch, and contraction scenarios — plus the trigger points that tell you when to act.
Friday, September 04, 2026
New 2026 data shows only 6% of SME owners feel ready to grow. Kevin D'Ambros-Smith breaks down why the barriers everyone blames are shared by every owner — and what actually separates the 6% who feel ready.
Friday, September 04, 2026
88% of business leaders are confident about growth in 2026 — the highest since 2019. But 74% worry about cybersecurity and only 12% plan on a rolling basis. Here's why confidence without a planning system is exposure, not readiness.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Landing the big account feels like the win that changes everything. Here's how to spot customer concentration risk before one client's decision decides your year.
Friday, September 04, 2026
"It felt useful" isn't a return on coaching. Here's how to actually measure whether a business coaching engagement is working — and what to do if it isn't.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Decision fatigue, not hours worked, is what wrecks an owner's judgment by Thursday. Here's how to batch routine decisions and protect the ones that actually need you.
Friday, September 04, 2026
The highest-probability sale in your business is sitting in your existing customer file. Here's how to systemise cross-sell and upsell instead of leaving it to chance.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Claims about your own business don't convert — customer proof does. Here's how to systemise the kind of proof that actually moves prospects, on any marketing budget.
Friday, September 04, 2026
A new 2026 survey of 1,305 owners found only 20% would trust AI alone with a major growth decision — most still want a human in the room. Here's what that, and what owners really call "winning," means for your business.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Most owners build strategy around growth targets, not whether the business would survive a buyer's due diligence. Here's why the exit-ready test is the sharpest strategy audit you're not running.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Hiring too early burns cash on capacity you don't need yet; hiring too late caps growth before anyone admits it. Here's how to time headcount off real capacity signals instead of a gut feeling.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Friends validate the decision you've already made. A good coach asks what's actually underneath it. Here's why that single question is the real value of business coaching — and why it's meant to be uncomfortable.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Constant switching between finance, sales, and operations quietly drains an SME owner's decision quality all day long. Here's how day-theming groups similar work together and ends the context-switching tax.
Friday, September 04, 2026
A single price turns every sale into a yes-or-no decision on cost alone. Here's why packaging your offer into three tiers changes the conversation, protects margin, and closes more deals without discounting.