Why Solopreneurs are Sleeping On their Greatest Competitive Advantage

Seth Godin’s most enviable superpower is his use of metaphors; metaphors employed in distilling big, scary business concepts into brilliant, clear, and crisp ideas that anyone without a fancy MBA can understand, and better still, put to immediate use.

Here’s an example.

MBA types and marketing experts talk of a company’s “value proposition,” or “differentiation,” or “Unique Selling Proposition.”

But not Godin.

He talks about Purple Cows.

A “purple cow” is a metaphor for a product, service, or idea that’s truly remarkable and stands out from the crowd—much like a purple cow would if you saw one among green pastures studded with ordinary cows. Godin argues that in today’s noisy, saturated market, being merely good is not enough; only what is exceptional, unique, and worthy of notice will get people talking and drive your success.

If Godin’s ideas were relevant back in the halcyon, pre-social media days of 2003, when he first published his little book, “Purple Cow,” they are now white hot relevant in today’s social media hellscape.

To put it bluntly—if you’re a business owner and you don’t have a purple cow—you may be in for big trouble, my friend.

Solopreneurs and purple cows

Everything in Godin’s little book applies to solopreneurs but solopreneurs were not his main focus when he wrote it. That’s why I want to highlight for you why creating a purple cow in your business is absolutely crucial to your success.

1. We can’t compete based on price like Walmart or Amazon can (we’re not cash rich, and we don’t sell commodities so we will always be the more expensive option);
2. We can’t compete on speed (We can’t offer 5-minute oil changes, or same day delivery services.);
3. We can’t compete on quality either (luckily, that’s a relic from the industrial revolution and mass market days, we offer experiences and transformation the value of which is much harder to measure than quality);
4. We can’t compete on promotion (again, because we’re cash poor, remember? No Super Bowl commercials to help us stand out);

And on and on and so forth, across all competitive dimensions…

It would seem, then, that as solopreneurs we’re at a total disadvantage with no hope of ever creating a glorious purple cow. Insert Loudly Crying Face emoji here.

But banish the thought! Nothing could be further from the truth. It turns out that your purple cow has been staring you in the face all along!

Go stand in front of a mirror and behold: your purple cow!

Yes, you, dear solopreneur, are the purple cow! Do you get that?

It turns out that you and your unique talents are your company’s most remarkable competitive advantage, its greatest strength, its most valuable asset. You, my friend! The brave solopreneur. More specifically, what you know how to do (i.e. your talent and expertise), and your voice—how you position yourself as the agent of change for the hero you’ve chosen to serve (think of yourself as Mr. Miyagi and the customer as Daniel-san, the hero of the story). Those are the elements of your solopreneurial purple cow: your unique talent and expertise in solving the hero’s specific problem, and how much you care (and how enthusiastically you demonstrate that care) to the hero you’ve chosen to serve.

But, here’s the rub. How do you lean into all your purple cow glory when all your life you’ve been told to fit in, to not stand out, to not get too big for your britches. The famous philosopher Rene Descartes once said, “I think, therefore I am.” Maybe he should’ve said, “I doubt (myself), therefore I am.”

We all do it.

God knows I do.

I think I’m too unintelligent to have anything of value to write a book; I’m too ugly to get in front of the camera to make those videos; my voice is too grating on the ears for me to record a podcast; and to top it off, I might be too fat to fit in that really nice suit.

I’m not alone in this dilemma. It’s so common, Psychologists have a name for it—impostor syndrome. Show me someone who claims an exemption from this affliction and I’ll show you a liar. (LOL)

Godin calls that negative voice in our heads the “lizard brain.” Steven Pressfield calls it, “the resistance.” It’s your ancient survival brain playing tricks on you. The more important the work, the higher the stakes, the more it freaks out; and the harder it tries to stop you from becoming the best, most glorious version of yourself.

We don’t have a purple cow because we might be too scared, timid, or ashamed to make one; too afraid to shine as brightly as our creator intended.

In dealing with this challenge, it helps to remember a few things:

1. It’s okay to be human, warts and all. (Self-acceptance is huge. Be kind to yourself. Give yourself permission to be yourself. We’re all weirdos in some way or another.)
2. Absolutely no one is perfect. (No one. The most beautiful woman in the world thinks she’s ugly too, can you believe that? The artist, as the saying goes, is a megalomaniac with an inferiority complex. Let’s get over ourselves and think of the people who need our help.)
3. An expert is not a know-it-all. (He’s a guy (or a gal) committed to learning as much as possible about his craft.)

In addition to all that, understanding what’s at stake may give you the spark you need. As Godin points out, “In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.”

Look. You already made the courageous choice to believe in yourself and launch your business. This is already ample proof that you’re a purple cow in a herd of ordinariness. Plus, we didn’t exactly start down this path to be invisible and ignored, did we? Hell, no! So, it’s time to don our big boy or girl pants and go “make a ruckus.” (Incidentally, “make a ruckus” is another one of my favorite Godinisms.)

Your eight word purple cow.

I leave you with this thought to help you get started. Seth Godin, master of the business metaphor is generally credited with saying the following:

If you can’t state your position in eight words, you don’t have a position.

So true.

But how?

As an illustration, here’s my Purple cow positioning statement in just eight words:

Help Black and Brown solopreneurs win at business.

There it is. No confusion. That’s my passion, what drives my purple cow. I want you to succeed. That’s why I write these blog posts, they are part of my purple cow. That’s why I make occasional videos. That’s why I strive to share quirky, offbeat insights you may not hear from any one else. I strive to be an unabashed purple cow everyday, and you can too.

Be a purple cow, my friend.

It’s as simple as daring to stand out. Don’t overthink this. Here’s the recipe:

• Show the customer how much you know about solving the problem she’s facing;
• Show her how much you truly care using every means of communication at your disposal;

Do that, and you’ll be well on your way to greener pastures.

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