"That explanation is a bit vague"—The initial barrier of "refining your words" that 41% of companies struggling with new business development overlook

The other day, I had a one-on-one online meeting with a business owner. They have been in business for 28 years. They are someone who has cultivated a unique method in the world of chiropractic care. After transitioning from managing multiple locations to becoming a one-person corporation, they are now focused on running a school with students nationwide.

After listening to my service introduction, they said this to me:

"I thought it sounded very interesting. However, at first glance, it's a bit vague and hard to understand. If you had a concrete example of 'this kind of person becomes this,' I think it would get the point across immediately."

That hit home. I had been explaining things in a sequential build-up: concept → background → problem awareness → process → revenue model. I thought I had it laid out neatly, but the reality was that nothing was actually sinking into the listener's head.

Moreover, this person had actually offered to introduce me to others. They had said, "If I find a business owner who is struggling, I'll connect you." The fact that someone like that told me it was "vague" means that I was effectively killing the referrals that should have naturally come through them.

The meaning behind "strengthening product and service capabilities" being the #1 challenge

As luck would have it, the latest report from the Daido Life Survey was released the very next day. It was a survey of 5,985 small and medium-sized business owners nationwide conducted in April 2025, and the theme was precisely "new customer and sales channel development."

The report states the following:

[Challenges in new customer and sales channel development for SMEs (multiple answers allowed)]

・Strengthening product and service capabilities: 41%
・Securing personnel necessary for development: 35%
・Acquiring know-how for information gathering and research analysis on market/customer needs: 35%
・Securing the budget necessary for development: 19%
・Acquiring IT utilization know-how necessary for development: 13%
・Source: Daido Life Survey April 2025 Research Report (Published May 26, 2025)

It was surprising at first that "strengthening product and service capabilities" was at the top. When I hear "new business development," I tend to think of things like manpower or budget—things that are "lacking." But business owners themselves feel that "our products and services are still weak." The fact that this exceeds 40% is what the current numbers show.

What caught my attention here is the question of what "strengthening" actually entails. Developing new products? Lowering prices? Refreshing the packaging? It's probably all of those things. But as someone who was told by a chiropractor that my explanation was "vague," it seems to me that there is a major barrier even before that.

That is the barrier of "whether you are properly conveying your existing products and services to the other party."

Companies without refined language will not see an increase in new business

I spent 12 years and 9 months working in housing sales at Sumitomo Forestry. Back then, I could explain the specs of the housing products I handled in great detail. The wood species, structure, insulation performance, warranty period. But if you asked me if I was able to put into words how those products connected to the lives of the customers in front of me, honestly, there were times when I doubt it.

Explaining product specs and rephrasing them to resonate with someone's life are two different things.

The "2025 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises" published by the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency in May 2025 also contains data showing that companies that share their management philosophy and vision with their employees have higher sales and higher growth rates. Companies that can convert what is in the owner's head into language that the other party can understand perform better simply because of that. Source: Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, "Overview of the 2025 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises and Small Enterprises"

In the same Daido Life Survey, there is another interesting figure. 50% of "companies working on new customer and sales channel development" answered that their number of customers "increased" in the last year. On the other hand, only 19% of "companies not working on it" saw an increase.

[Increase/decrease in number of customers over the last year (by status of new business development efforts)]

・Companies working on it: 50% increase / 37% no change / 13% decrease
・Companies not working on it: 19% increase / 60% no change / 21% decrease
・Source: Daido Life Survey April 2025 Research Report

The difference is 31 percentage points. In short, companies that took action to develop new business are seeing a genuine increase in customers. However, if the substance of that "action" is limited to "tactics" like refreshing the company website, posting on social media, or exhibiting at trade shows, there is a possibility that it will end in a feeling of "vagueness," just as it did for me.

Before rolling out tactics, you need to verify once more whether your company's explanation can paint a picture in the other person's mind.

Starting with a concrete example changes your explanation

After being pointed out by the chiropractor, I restructured my introduction of our company's services. I thoroughly rewrote only the first 30 seconds.

My previous way of saying it was like this:

"I work as a business coordinator who organizes the operations of small and medium-sized enterprises and solves them together with external partners. The concept is to separate the work before increasing the number of people..."

After rewriting, it is like this:

"For example, are there any presidents of construction companies with about 30 craftsmen who are stuck until late at night because they are handling everything from estimates to recruitment and social media? My job is to act as a substitute for those 'presidents who handle everything,' sorting out the work and assigning it to the appropriate people."

The length is almost the same. But the probability that a picture will pop into the other person's head should be completely different.

I don't think this is a special technique. The chiropractor also said this to me: "My service also gets across in one go if I show the changes in customers before and after the treatment. I think it's the same for you, Mr. Oba."

Many managers of small and medium-sized enterprises have plenty of experience saving the customers in front of them and stories of the sites they have helped so far. Nevertheless, the moment it becomes a place for self-introduction, many people suddenly return to abstract theory. I was the same way. It is a common trap: even though concrete examples are at hand, they are not used in the explanation.

"Writing out operations" and "writing out words" are the same thing

When I talk to clients, I usually suggest, "Let's write out your operations on one sheet of paper." From receiving inquiries to billing, what processes are there, who does them, with what tools, how many hours a month does it take, and does it stop if that person takes a day off? This is a method where you can see the state of your company just by lining these up on one sheet.

What I thought when I was told that my explanation was "vague" this time was that I had to do exactly the same thing for the explanation of my own company's services.

Write out the cases supported in the past six months one by one. What kind of company, what kind of situation, what kind of tactics were used, and how far did it progress? If it is a project still in progress, record at least the current stage. When you line these up, you can see for yourself "what kind of company" you are.

When people talk about strengthening product and service capabilities, they tend to lean toward big topics like new product development. However, I feel that there are truly many cases where managers with long business histories already have something strong, and they just haven't been able to put it into words.

The top measures that felt effective for new business development were "development of new products/services (26%)" and "information dissemination via company website or social media (23%)." Even though it is shown that information dissemination is effective, it is a waste if the essential content is "vague."

Conclusion—What cannot be explained will not be referred

Referrals, in the end, are born when the person who refers you remembers, "Oh, that story just now, that's that person's turn." Explanations that don't remain in memory aren't brought up in referral situations.

The one word the chiropractor gave me was not about the "substance" of product and service power, but about "how to convey" it. However, the entrance to the current challenges of small and medium-sized enterprises might unexpectedly lie one step before this.

If you have a habit of starting with your concept and history when asked to "try explaining your company to someone right now," I highly recommend trying just once to spend the first 30 seconds speaking only in concrete examples. That alone might change the landscape of your business card exchanges next month.

I myself will also restart my writing from here. Precisely because I run a one-person company, my explanation is the company's explanation itself, so I cannot afford to slack off.

Read also

Here is the reality of business owners asked if they can put their own services into words.

The reality of business owners who are "confident in sales": only 14%

This is a story about the plain but certain "preparation" that comes before investing in training.

"70% can't apply what they learn in training"—The one preparation to ensure education investment isn't wasted

Why does work not flow even when roles are divided? This is a problem one step before that, discovered at a construction site.

Even if you divide roles, work doesn't flow—The "connection" problem in the construction industry

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