I received a text from one of my daughters last night telling me she sent me an email. She and her husband are currently traveling through Europe and Asia for four months. She was on a ferry near Sweden when she sent the text and email. I am in São Paulo Brazil on business. My first thought was about how cool technology is today and the speed of communication!
Of course, I am thinking about the technology of communication. However, without the right words, it doesn’t matter how fast we can get the message out—no one will listen. My daughter’s email contained her Lean Model Canvas. She asked me to review it and provide feedback.
I focused in on her Unique Value Proposition and then on her Unfair Advantage. Her idea was very well thought out, well researched, and clearly contained a Unique Value Proposition and an Unfair Advantage that would be very difficult to replicate. However, I had to think about her statements before I could draw the conclusion that, in fact, she was solid on both fronts. My advice to her was not to change her business, but to change how she describes her business.
Her basic statements—short and to the point—were correct. What I suggested was adding two or three “proof points” to her statements. Yes, add a few more words. However, by adding a few proof points, the speed of communicating her Unique Value Proposition and Unfair Advantage increased 100 fold.