Differentiation matters

Being different matters. Differentiation matters to those who care about the differentiation. So while you try to differentiate your product, service or yourself, think about who are you doing it to, and what you are doing it for.

Take for example a food product. The farmer may care about the sourcing of that ingredients: is it fresh, how was it transported, where was it grown and with what? The TCM doctor may care about whether it is heaty or cooling, whether it is suitable for the old or young. The parent may be concerned if it’s good for the teeth of their child. The foodie may care abouts its taste. The food critic about the variety of textures. And the list goes on. Who are you selling the food to? And that will define what distinguishes you.

The same can be applied even to a Renewable Energy project. The impact investor may care about how much local labour was used to do the project. The sustainability investor would be concerned if the environment, social and governance matters were properly dealt with. The bankers will be concerned about the numbers. An engineer may want to know whether you used micro-inverters. Equipment manufacturers may ask what is the brand of the solar panels or wind turbine.

For most other people, they are just wondering if the lights can remain on when they switch to renewable energy. Especially if they don’t care about climate change.