Lv.3 Equipping Original Skills / Discovering Strengths and Expertise [Management & Planning] | Small Business Studies

Finding your axis of ability from "Lifetime Value" and "Life Mission"

In small business, one of the most important assets is the power to continue providing value for a long time. An important indicator for measuring that power is Lifetime Value (LTV).
Generally, LTV is discussed as "the revenue a customer provides throughout their lifetime," but in small business, it can also be viewed from the perspective of "How long can the skills and expertise I possess contribute to society?".

"Does that mean deep, long-term connections with customers are important?"

"That's right. That is the essence of 'Customer Lifetime Value'."

What are sustainable skills? — The perspective of Lifetime Value

By thinking from the perspective of LTV, you can cultivate "skills that do not depend on temporary booms or trends." This evolves into skills that build long-term trust and relationships, and generate sustainable value, rather than just short-term success.

Three perspectives for increasing Lifetime Value

• "Skills that can be used for a long time" rather than "short-term skills"
  → Acquire skills and expertise that customers will need even 10 years from now, rather than a business dependent on passing trends

• Building "relationships" rather than "transactions"
  → Build a business model that connects with customers long-term, rather than one-off sales

• Being conscious of "continuing to provide" rather than "selling"
  → Create a mechanism to continuously provide products or services that are in demand, rather than chasing short-term sales

What is your mission? — The perspective of Life Mission

To succeed in small business, it is not enough to just polish "skills demanded by the market." What is important is "whether it aligns with your own passion and values." This is where the perspective of Life Mission is useful.
Life mission refers to what you "truly want to do" and "want to contribute to society" that wells up from within you. Small business is not just a means of revenue, but something that embodies your outlook on life and values. Therefore, finding professional capabilities that align with your life mission becomes the foundation for a long-lasting business.

Three questions to find your Life Mission

• "What is a field you are genuinely interested in?"
  → What are the "themes you could talk about for hours" or "things you can continue without feeling burdened"?

• "How can you contribute in that field?"
  → What kind of value can you provide by utilizing your skills and experience?

• "What kind of future do you want to create by continuing to polish your skills?"
  → What kind of impact will your business or career have on society? What is your vision for 10 or 20 years from now?

Lifetime Value x Life Mission = One-of-a-kind Expertise

Success in a small business is maximized by combining “Lifetime Value (skills that will be in demand in the market for a long time)” and “Life Mission (what you are passionate about)”.
In a small business, you cannot compete with the scale of large corporations. Instead, it is most important to establish “value that only you can provide.”
What is born when you combine Lifetime Value and Life Mission is your “original skill.”
This becomes the strongest competitive advantage in a small business, and is unique to you.

“So, I should think based on these two things!”

“If you know your customers and know yourself, you can find the optimal value.”

• What are the specialized skills that allow you to connect with customers and society over the long term?

• What are you truly passionate about and want to work on?

For example, if you are passionate about the education market, which will continue to have long-term demand, you might consider honing your skills in online courses or coaching. You will be able to build deep connections with society while providing continuous value. By combining
“Expertise demanded by the market × Fields you are passionate about,” let's establish your own unique position.

Creating a Style — Visualizing Strengths with 5 Analysis Tools and the Lean Canvas [Core Competence] 3 Points

1) Roles are more important than excellence! What is even more important is your style.

In a small business, “excellence” or “high ability” does not necessarily lead directly to success. Rather, what is more important is the “role you should play.”
This role focuses on the point: “What kind of value can you provide to customers and society?” In other words, it means “work that only you can do.” And what makes that role clearer and more attractive is your “style.”

What is a “style”?

A style is your own unique style or approach. It is not just technique or knowledge, but refers to “the color of personality that only you can bring out.”
For example, suppose a cafe attracts attention not by focusing on having the “best taste in the region,” but by continuing to post “humorous social media updates.” The strength of this cafe lies not only in “delicious coffee,” but in the “fun of bringing smiles to local people.”

“Should I think about a role that only I can play?”

“Yes. A unique role is directly linked to value.”

Effects of having a style

✓ You can build a position of “specialization” rather than just differentiation
→ Create a state where you are “chosen because it is you,” rather than being compared to competitors

✓ The personality of the business becomes clear, leading to branding
→ Become an entity that is easy to remember and leaves an impression

✓ Gain customer trust and create long-term fans
→ Compete with unique value without getting caught up in price wars

In a small business, “establishing a unique style” is the most powerful specialization strategy.

2) Linking uniqueness and benefits

A business cannot succeed just by having uniqueness. What is important is to clarify, “What kind of benefits does that uniqueness provide to the customer?”

Uniqueness × Benefit = The Reason Customers Choose You

For example, if a handmade goods store simply uses "eco-friendly materials," that is merely one feature. However, if they clearly highlight the benefit of "supporting an environmentally friendly lifestyle," it becomes a valuable option for customers with high environmental awareness.
To connect uniqueness with benefits, it is important to first organize your "strengths." By clarifying what you are good at and what makes you different from others, the core of your business will come into view. However, simply having strengths is not enough. You are required to think deeply about what kind of value those strengths can provide to customers and convert your strengths into "benefits." For example, it is important to think concretely about what kind of problems your expertise or skills solve for customers and how they are useful.
Furthermore, by utilizing a "story" as a means of communication, your strengths will be conveyed more attractively. By incorporating the background and thoughts behind "why you provide this value," rather than just listing features, it becomes easier for customers to empathize with you.

By expressing your own experiences and vision as a consistent message, your business will not just be a "product or service," but will possess a "reason to be chosen" where uniqueness is linked to customer benefits.

3) Core competence is a combination of existing knowledge

"Core competence" is your company's core, most powerful competitive advantage.Hearing that, you might think of "new inventions" or "groundbreaking technology." However, in small business, "uniquely combining existing skills and experiences" is the most powerful core competence.

The source of strength lies in "multiplication"

For example, the following combinations can be considered.

• "Cooking skills" × "SNS marketing" = Online expansion of cooking classes

• "Design knowledge" × "Sales experience" = Launching an original brand

• "Psychology" × "Writing skills" = Advertising production based on behavioral psychology

By multiplying the skills and experiences you already have, you can create your own unique strengths. By being conscious of your "role" or "style" rather than being caught up in "excellence," it is possible to turn uniqueness into benefits and provide value that resonates with customers.

"So it's about multiplying the weapons I already have!"

"That's right. That creates a strong competitive advantage (core competence)."

Three steps

In the world of small business, you cannot survive on just technology or knowledge alone. Next, I will introduce three steps to clarify your professional capabilities and turn them into a weapon called value.

1) Finding professional capabilities from 4 hints

The first step to discovering professional capabilities is to dig up the "hidden strengths" within yourself. To clarify your own unique professional capabilities, let's practice the following four things.

✓ "Think about what you like"
Things you can get absorbed in are the starting point for cultivating expertise. For example, if you like making things, there is a possibility that you can utilize it in the fields of craftsmanship or design. However, it is important to determine whether it has value in the market.

✓ "Think about what you were thanked for or praised for"
Experiences of being appreciated by others hide your own value. For example, if you have experience receiving high praise for a presentation, there is a possibility that you can utilize it in lecturing or video production.

✓ "Look for things you are interested in"
Fields you haven't challenged yet but are curious about have growth potential. For example, if you are interested in AI, considering a business that utilizes it is one idea.

✓ "Finding what you are good at"
Things you can do naturally are strengths you already possess. For example, if you are good at listening to people, a path in coaching or counseling might open up for you.

✓ [Lv.2 Visualizing an Ideal World] Just like with the specialized fields learned in , the key is to think of three items for each category. By cross-referencing these four perspectives, you will be able to see the specialized abilities you can truly utilize.

② Analyzing Specialized Abilities — Five Analysis Tools

Once you have found your strengths, you need to verify from multiple angles whether they are truly valuable. Here, we will apply and utilize the "Five Analysis Tools" used in business strategy to make your specialized abilities more concrete.

1. [3C Analysis] (Determining market fit)

• Company: What are your specialized abilities or strengths?

• Customer: For whom is that ability valuable?

• Competitor: What makes you different compared to other people or companies?

2. [SWOT Analysis] (Organizing the current situation)

• Strengths: Your unique skills

• Weaknesses: Areas of deficiency or challenges

• Opportunities: Market opportunities

• Threats: Competitive environment or external risks

3. [VRIO Analysis] (Confirming sustainable competitive advantage)

• Value: Is that skill valuable to the customer?

• Rarity: Are there unique elements that no one else has?

• Imitability: Can it be easily imitated?

• Organization: Is there an environment to leverage it?

4. [4C Analysis] (Identifying value from the customer's perspective)

• Customer Value: What kind of value can be provided?

• Cost: Can it be provided at an appropriate price?

• Convenience: In what form will it be provided to the customer?

• Communication: How will it be conveyed?

5. [Five Forces Analysis] (Understanding the market competitive environment)

• Threat of New Entrants: The risk of new competitors increasing

• Threat of Substitutes: The possibility of switching to other products

• Bargaining Power of Buyers: The strength of customers to easily dictate prices and terms

• Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The strength of suppliers to influence prices and terms

• Intensity of Competitive Rivalry: The intensity of the struggle against rival companies

By combining these analyses, you will be able to objectively judge whether your professional capabilities are "truly what the market demands."

"This seems a bit difficult..."

"It sounds like a spell, doesn't it? It's easier to understand when you look at the diagrams."

③ Trying to turn capabilities into value — Utilizing the Lean Canvas

To apply the professional capabilities you have discovered to actual business, it is effective to utilize the Lean Canvas. The Lean Canvas is a framework that organizes a business model into nine elements and clarifies the mechanism for providing value.

✓ The nine elements of the Lean Canvas

1. Customer Segments (Who are you providing value to?)

2. Customer Problems (What problems are you solving?)

3. Unique Value Proposition (What is your unique strength?)

4. Solution (How do you solve the problems?)

5. Unfair Advantage (What elements allow you to win against competitors?)

6. Revenue Streams (How do you generate revenue?)

7. Cost Structure (What kind of costs are incurred?)

8. Key Metrics (What are the indicators to measure success?)

9. Channels/Sales Routes(How do you deliver to customers?)

By organizing these nine elements, you can clarify who your expertise provides value to, how it provides that value, and how it leads to revenue. In particular, by focusing on the three elements of “Customer Problems,” “Unique Value Proposition,” and “Unfair Advantage,” you can more easily find strengths that will not lose to the competition.
For example, you can build a sustainable business by incorporating skills based on “what you are good at” and “what you have been thanked for” into your “Unique Value Proposition” and optimizing them for a specific customer segment.
By utilizing the Lean Canvas, you can clarify your expertise as a “valuable product/service” and see the path to generating revenue. Please give it a try.

“I can organize the value of my business on this one sheet!”

“It’s very convenient because I can summarize the elements necessary for business on a single sheet.”

Honing standout strengths and expertise to become a weapon that can adapt to change

In the world of small business, those who can adapt to market changes are the ones who survive. Having skills and knowledge alone is not enough; you are required to keep honing them and evolving them according to the environment.
So, how can you acquire the power to turn your strengths into “weapons” and adapt to change?

Strengths become valuable “by continuing to hone them”

Skills and expertise are not finished once they are established. Due to market trends and technological innovation, the strengths you have now may become obsolete in a few years—which is why “continuing to polish them” becomes your greatest strength.
For example, while “SEO writing” skills once held market value, in the current era where AI-driven automated generation has advanced, new perspectives and storytelling are now required—in other words, more than “what to make your strength,” “how to keep adapting?” is what is important.

✓ Balance your learning
To polish your skills, it is important to balance “broadening learning” and “deepening learning.”

• Broadening learning: Incorporate knowledge from related fields to expand the application range of your skills

• Deepening learning: Further polish the strengths you currently have to increase your expertise

✓ Have a place for practice
Skills do not take root with knowledge alone. By repeating practice while going through trial and error, your skills will become more robust.

• Launch small projects, and repeat improvements while testing

• Utilize feedback from customers to evolve into skills with higher market value

✓ Catch market changes
The skills the market demands are always changing. It is about constantly updating the necessary skills while being conscious of customer needs, competitor trends, and industry trends.

By always being conscious of the above, it is essential to possess “weapons” that can adapt to change. While you should have core technologies, relying on a single skill is a major risk, so by not depending solely on that and instead combining diverse technologies, you will acquire the power to respond to unforeseen situations.
Let’s turn your skills into “weapons,” acquire the power to respond to any change, and build a flexible business and career.

*The following is an [introductory video] for the program provided by Small Business University.

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