Sara Simmonds on Unmistakable Positioning: The Founder’s Crucial Question

In a recent LinkedIn post, Sara Simmonds delves into a critical question founders often overlook, one that she posits can halt discussions and expose avoidance of a core business challenge. Simmonds, a seasoned advisor, shared her foundational query for entrepreneurs: “Why should a buyer choose you when there are countless alternatives that appear to do something similar?”

According to Simmonds, this question acts as a powerful filter, stripping away superficial messaging and vague ambitions. She argues that the true drivers of growth are not mere activity or passion, but rather a profound sense of distinctiveness.

If your answer leans on effort, passion, or quality alone, you have a positioning problem. Buyers do not choose based on how deeply you care. They choose based on clarity. They choose based on relevance. They choose based on difference.

The Peril of Positioning Problems

Simmonds elaborates that many founders struggle to articulate their unique value proposition, often falling back on generic claims of superior effort or quality. This, in her view, is a fundamental error in positioning. “Buyers do not choose based on how deeply you care,” she writes. “They choose based on clarity. They choose based on relevance. They choose based on difference.” This emphasis on clarity and relevance, as opposed to internal metrics like passion, is central to her argument.

Four Steps to Becoming the Obvious Choice

To help founders move beyond vague ambitions and achieve stronger market traction, Simmonds outlines a four-step process. She stresses that this is not about being busy, but about being unmistakable in the marketplace.

1. Define the actual problem you solve.
2. Identify who feels that problem most urgently.
3. Clarify why your approach cannot be confused with everyone else.
4. Build your business so that buyers can recognise your value quickly.

Simmonds asserts that confronting this core question forces a level of precision that is often missing in business strategy. She contrasts the path of refining offers that merely blend into the market with the more demanding, yet ultimately more rewarding, path of becoming the obvious choice.

This question changes everything because it forces precision. So you can keep refining offers that blend into the market. Or you can do the deeper work and become the obvious choice.

The Imperative of Precision

The founder’s ability to clearly articulate why their solution is distinct and relevant is paramount, according to Simmonds. She suggests that founders often avoid this difficult but necessary introspection. The clarity derived from answering her central question enables businesses to differentiate themselves effectively, moving from a position of being just another option to being the preferred solution.

Simmonds concludes her post by inviting founders to engage with this challenge, hinting at further guidance through a masterclass. “Ready to face the question properly?” she asks, providing a link for those interested in RSVPing.