It’s crucial to differentiate yourself from your competition so you can speak directly to your niche customer base. Toronto entrepreneur Paul Jansen recalls two words that helped him turn his small construction business into a thriving business with $6 million in annual sales.
differentiate yourself from the competition
Be different!
“My father-in-law was an insurance broker who decided 15 years ago to focus on the RV market,” says Jansen. “It was a risky decision, but it allowed him to live very well and taught me to think outside the box.”
Mr. Jansen started his business, Jancon, in 2000. Initially, he offered building construction services, but when the economy was struggling, Mr. Jansen realized a different approach was needed.
“The companies that undertook any kind of project sri lanka email list were much larger than mine and it was difficult to compete with them,” he says. “We decided to focus on our strengths, which were building smaller buildings (between 500 and 2,000 square meters) and renovating. Few contractors built smaller buildings, and that’s what we built our reputation on.”
Jansen also points out that many companies promise to provide “good customer service,” which he says is a vague and meaningless promise. His company, for its part, has adopted a more precise tagline to ensure it stays on budget and on schedule.
“My first task was to obtain the unconditional commitment of all stakeholders to the mission statement and to structure the company’s operations in a way that would ensure that our promises were kept.”
In its market niche, namely small constructions, Jancon specializes in , among other things, the construction of daycare centers . The company has built a reputation in this sector by offering more than just construction services. It also takes care of the administrative formalities related to obtaining a permit to operate a daycare center.