Explore

But my Business is different

Here’s a compact version of the sub‑chapter plan you can write straight into.

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1. Soft hook

Open with 1–2 short paragraphs:

“Every founder says, ‘We’re a bit different.’ Good news: you are – just not in the way you usually mean.”

Remind them they’ve just seen how plans, habits, and mental models drive reactivity; now you want to show the shared structure underneath.

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2. Core blocks + make/sell/do

Introduce your simple building blocks (in words):

Create demand

Convert demand (scope/quote/agree)

Deliver

Get paid

Support (people, systems, finance)

Then add Crabtree’s three lenses:

Make stuff (product makers)

Sell stuff (distributors/retail/e‑com)

Do stuff (services, expertise, trades)

One paragraph to say: structurally, every SME is some mix of these blocks, just with different weights and flavours.

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3. Three short vignettes

Write 1–2 paragraphs each.

a) Make stuff – small manufacturer

Owner line: “We’re not like agencies or SaaS – we’ve got machines, raw materials, specialised processes. Nothing standard works here.”

Show the shared block (promise → deliver → invoice):

Sales promise lead times without checking capacity.

Production juggles priorities, jobs queue up, changeovers kill flow.

Shipments are late or partial; invoices are delayed or disputed.

Close with a structural line: “Different product, same broken hand‑off between selling and doing.”

b) Sell stuff – wholesaler / e‑com

Owner line: “Our world is different – crazy seasonality, demanding retailers, razor‑thin margins. It’s all relationships and timing.”

Shared block: order → fulfil → cash:

Orders come in via multiple channels, stock accuracy is shaky.

Warehouse is constantly expediting and fixing pick/pack errors.

Credits, returns, and manual adjustments slow cash collection.

Structural line: “Different customers, same invisible queue between order and fulfilment.”

c) Do stuff – service business

Owner line: “We’re project‑based / creative / professional services – you can’t standardise what we do.”

Shared block: brief → deliver → bill:

Vague intake; scope creep baked in from day one.

Delivery teams start before roles/capacity are clear.

Rework and free extras erode margin; invoices get stuck in ‘discussions’.

Structural line: “Different language, same gap between promise, delivery, and getting paid.”

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4. Pull‑out insight

2–4 paragraphs to state explicitly:

Your core blocks are not unique; your advantage is how cleanly you run them and how cleverly you combine them.

Equifinality means there are many ways to wire those blocks, but some paths are far simpler and more scalable than others.

When you cling to “we’re structurally different,” you stop borrowing proven fixes and end up reinventing complexity.

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5. Light self‑diagnostic

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