You have probably been with owners of other small businesses on a course or in a seminar where people could not describe their businesses. Clarity on the kind of goods and services offered by your business is essential to good focus and ultimately to a successful marketing effort. Sometimes business owners, or those wishing to start a business, are passionate about the general area they want to be in such as landscaping, day-care providers or copywriters but beyond that their business ideas are hazy at best.

You should start your business; in fact you should start your business proposal, by first defining the business you are in. It is only by doing that that you will be able to come up with a Unique Selling Proposition or Point of Difference that will make your business stand out and gain you a loyal and growing clientele.

There is a simple way for potential entrepreneurs to define their businesses. They should start at the end and work backwards. If they know where they want to go then they will know how to work on the route to get there. If you set goals then the rest of the process becomes easier.

To think creatively and in new ways there are abundant tools available such as brainstorming, mind mapping and freewriting. Above all, business people should think about their businesses from the customer's perspective. Do I meet the expectations of my customer? And who is my customer? These are the type of questions that needs answering.

Brainstorming with fellow businessmen or on your own, or by yourself, focused on what you consider to be the goal of your business, is most useful. Mind mapping goes one step further than brainstorming. It enables you to you create and perceive ways in which the interests of your business and the customer can match each other.

Freewriting is an interesting process whereby you seize upon the essence of your business and write about it continuously for anything from ten minutes to half an hour. You will know when you have written sufficient.

There are no hard and fast rules about using these tools but one. Do not assess or change what you have written as you go. Simply allow the ideas to flow. Even if you are doubt that a particular idea will be helpful just write it down. Only when you have spent sufficient time engaged in the process should you look at what you have done. Then you can sift through it all and retain what works for you. You will be surprised at what emerges.

As mentioned, these techniques can be done on your own or with others. Obviously you may want to discuss your ideas with other business people and professionals. But at the end of the day it's your business and you need to know what it is you are offering in the marketplace. It helps immeasurably when you are asked by a financial institution or a customer to write a proposal, and when you are developing sales material.