Becoming the only choice starts with one key element:
The thing you do that makes you uncopyable.
Call it your differentiation, onlyness, uniqueness, or value — doing something your competitors can't or won't do makes it easy for customers to choose you.
Most founders struggle to find that uncopyable element.
They settle for basic expectations: quality, caring for their customers, personality, or try to own being the best in their industry.
None of that makes you different.
Because none of that actually presents a choice.
No one is looking for the company that provides poor quality, sh*tty service, bad personality, or the worst in the industry.
Your uncopyable element isn't a basic expectation.
It's something you DO that your competitors can't or won't.
Operations > Vibes
What we're talking here is a fundamental shft (pun intended) in branding.
Most agencies create a brand on vibes.
Purpose, mission, vision, values, personality, identity — all good things, but none of that actually gives people a reason to choose your business.
Think about it.
When was the last time you bought a SaaS product for your business because the company's purpose resonated with you so much that you just had to give them your money?
My guess: never.
Because purpose, mission, vision, values, and even personality, should amplify your differentiation, not be your differentation.
Your uncopyable element is found in your operations. Something you actually DO that is different.
Extracting Your Uncopyable Element
Finding that uncopyable element is key for creating a unique position in the market.
Here's how I extract that uncopyable element for my clients.
Step 1: Map Your Process
Your uncopyable element is found in your process or deliverable.
So, start by documenting everything you do with a client — from discovery (especially if you provide custom services) to deliverable.
Include the following:
- Workshops and exercises you take them through
- Process for making recommendations
- Research or testing you perform
- Checklist you follow
Get it all out on a whiteboard or in a digital notebook.
Grab my Uncover Your Differentiation Workshop. It breaks down how to map your process and provides a free Miro whiteboard template to use.
Step 2: Research Your Competitors
Being uncopyable means that your competitors can't or won't copy you.
So, spend some time researching your competitors.
Understand what they:
- Can't do = they don't have the resources, money, team, space, to do it
- Won't do = it doesn't align with who they are
Take Liquid Death as an example.
Their competitors COULD put water in a can that looks like beer. That's super easy to do.
But their competitors WON'T, because it goes against who they are.
Imagine VOSS water coming out with a beer-can-looking alternative. That's a massive shft away from their brand.
Ultimately, you're trying to uncover your competitors':
- Offers
- Processes
- Pricing
- Positioning
My competitive research prompt will help.
Step 3: Research Your Ideal Customers
Your uncopyable element should be something your ideal customers want or need.
If it doesn't matter to them, it doesn't really matter.
Take Shft for instance.
I could show up to every workshop dressed as a clown.
It would be different and uncopyable. No other brand strategist dresses as a clown.
But it wouldn't matter to my ideal customers. If anything, it would repel them. No one wants to take business advice from someone who dresses as a clown.
Extreme example, I know, but it makes the point.
If your uncopyable element doesn't matter to your ideal customers, it's not going to make them choose you.
So, get to know what matters to them. Try to find their:
- Pain points
- Motivations
- Struggles
- Mindset
- Wants
- Needs
- Values
- Preferred Solutions
- Buying Journey
Doing so will help you know what actually matters to them.
The Ideal Customer Playbook will walk you through finding all that information.
Step 4: Extract Your Uncopyable Element
Once you've completed steps 1-3, it's time to extract your uncopyable element.
Look over your process and find something that:
- Your ideal customers want or need
- Your competitors can't or won't do
You'll likely have a few options.
The goal is to pick ONE that you can deliver on well and that moves the needle in your business.
Step 5: Test Your Differentiation
Have one (or a few) options that you aren't sure could be your uncopyable element?
Run it through a differentation test.
Here are a few we use with our clients:
And the best test to run: The Opposite Test.
Ask yourself, is the opposite of your differentiation a viable reason to buy?
If you think your differentiation is that you care, the opposite is not caring about your customers.
Is not caring a viable reason your ideal customers would buy?
If the answer is no, it's not an uncopyable element.
Step 6: Own Your Uncopyable Element
Once you've decided on your uncopyable element, it's time to own it in everything you do.
Messaging, marketing, website copy, content, sales decks, offers, process, operations, and even human resources — it should all adjust to communicate and amplify your uncopyable element.
That means doing new things and killing old things that don't align.
Everything in your business should help your ideal customers feel that differentiation.
Additional Resources
These resources will help you extract and own your uncopyable element:
Become Uncopyable
Standing out in the market requires more than a pretty look and personality.
It requires having something you DO that your competitors can't or won't and your ideal customers want or need.
It's operational, not a vibe.
Follow the process above to extract your uncopyable element and own it in the market.
If you need help, I'm just an email reply away.
Until next week,
#SassyJason out.
✌🏼
