Stick with the knitting.
No – it’s not an expression I was familiar with either.
Let me explain why it’s a good one.
I was listening to a podcast recently with Dame Mary Perkins. She was eloquently talking about her business, Specsavers – a global, high street optical and audio health store that’s extremely affordable.
A modest, kind woman that’s build a global empire and a catchy tagline that’s quickly becoming common lexicon (‘should’ve gone to Specsavers’), her insight into the ‘secret’ to their success was fascinating:
Focus.
Focus on what you’re doing.
Don’t be tempted to spread yourself too thinly on too many offerings.
You need to focus on training to become the leading expert at what you do.
You need to focus on the team, so they are all aligned to the purpose, mission and values.
You need to focus on the customer and deliver what they need.
You can see that the is the thread that connects everything and everyone together.
This means training and investing in your people, so they feel a sense of worth, growth and value.
This means people have ownership in their role and feel connected to the business.
This means you build a culture of care and excellence, helping customers fall in love your brand.
Over the lifetime of a brand, with expansions and scale, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay focused, avoiding temptations to dip your toes into other opportunities and ventures, ways of doing things, that may not be strictly aligned to your brand strategy.
She recommends against this and by ‘sticking with the knitting’ you can go deep into the positioning, own that space and root yourself in the hearts and minds of their customers for THAT THING they need.
How many of us Brits have stepped foot inside a Specsavers in our lifetime?
Being niche, focused and expert in your field, gives you the opportunity to become renowned for that THING – it’s simple, clear and memorable, rather than a whole sleugh of ideas, offerings and messaging that will have people switching off and forgetting you before you can say ‘knit one, pearl one’.
So, thought for the day from an accomplished business veteran – grab your needles and stick with your knitting: focus.
If you want some help sorting out your yarns and offerings, to get clarity, conciseness and confidence back into your positioning, then get in touch today.
Lauren 🌱