Blacksheep Mind Get the book, $12

A Blacksheep Mind web book · Brand and design

You started it to do things your way. Lately it looks like everyone else’s.

Eight steps to find what’s already yours, cross out the words every business uses, and show what’s left where people look. For cafe, salon, barbershop, shop and trade owners, small online stores, and anyone about to open.

How to Build a Business That's Truly Yours. Find what only you have, and stop looking like everyone else.

The cover of How to Build a Business That's Truly Yours.
A web book: read it online and download a copy. Nothing is posted to you.
Chapters
8
Tools
3
Reading
52 min
Price
$12
Get the book, $12

Read it tonight on your phone or laptop. One price, no upsells. No refunds: you get the whole book straight away.

The moment

Cover the name. Could it be the place down the street?

  • Someone asked what makes you different. You said “quality and service,” and heard how it sounded.
  • The new place’s page: the same latte from above, the same “fresh, local, handmade,” nearly the same prices.
  • The menu you copied from the busy place, because it was working for them.
  • A cheaper place opens, and your first thought is to match their price.

It isn’t a failure. Copying what seemed to work was the careful thing to do with your own money. But everyone copied the same few places, so price is all that’s left to compare. What’s yours is already there, and it’s small. Eight steps to find it, say it and show it.

What’s inside

Eight steps, in the order you’ll do them

  1. 01

    Put Yours Next to Theirs

    Cover the names on your page and three places like yours, then count what’s the same and what’s only yours.

  2. 02

    Cross Out the Words Everyone Uses

    If the place down the street could say it word for word, cross it out and write what you actually do instead.

  3. 03

    Find What’s Already Yours

    Your taste, your reasons, your standards and your regulars’ own words. Pick three small things that are true.

  4. 04

    Choose the Customers You Love Serving

    Name the people you’re glad to see walk in, and build for them. Everyone is still welcome.

  5. 05

    Write Your We Don’t List

    Three things you won’t do, each with a reason your customers care about, and a kind way to say no.

  6. 06

    Say It in One Plain Sentence

    Who it’s for, what only you do, and why, in words you’d say at the counter.

  7. 07

    Show It Everywhere People Look

    Your sentence in the first places people see you, photos of what’s really yours, and one small thing you do every time.

  8. 08

    Keep It Yours When Someone Undercuts You

    Before you match a cheaper price, wait, count who actually leaves, and do the math on what you’d keep.

Plus a short introduction and a four-week plan to finish. 8 chapters, about 52 minutes to read.

A page from the book

What you won’t do is part of what people remember

Step 5 · from the book, word for word

Write Your We Don’t List

A case

The screenshot cake

Marta makes custom cakes from her home kitchen, in the evenings and on weekends. Every week her messages filled with screenshots of other bakers’ cakes and the same question: can you do this, but cheaper? She said yes to nearly all of them and quoted low. Most went quiet after the quote. The ones who booked had her copying other bakers’ designs late at night for less, and her page slowly filled with cakes that looked like everyone’s.

Her first reflex was a price list set just below the bakery in town.

Instead, she wrote three lines. We don’t copy another baker’s cake, because yours should be yours. We don’t take orders with less than 10 days’ notice, because every design is drawn with you first. We don’t use fondant. She’d never liked the taste, and what she loved making was buttercream with pressed flowers. She pinned the lines to the top of her page and put them in her auto-reply.

In the first month she got 14 inquiries instead of her usual 20 or so. Eight became orders, where before it had been about four, and every one was a buttercream flower cake she wanted to make.

What to say
Instead of

“Sorry, we can’t do that.”

Try

“We don’t take same-day jobs, because the time we’ve promised other customers is theirs. I can be there Thursday at 8 a.m. If it can’t wait, a service that does same-day calls will suit you better.”

Instead of

“Sure, I can make it look exactly like that.”

Try

“I don’t copy other bakers’ cakes, but I’d love to make you one in the same spirit. What did you like about it?”

The swap test checklist in the web book, on a phone, with three items ticked.
The swap test, ticked off on your phone
The “we don’t” list template in the web book, on a phone.
Your “we don’t” list, ready to fill in

The tools

A test, a sheet and a list you’ll keep

  • ChecklistThe swap testYour posts, bio, menu and sign next to three places like yours, names covered, so you can see what’s the same and what’s only yours.
  • WorksheetWhat’s truly oursQuestions about things that are already true: why you started, what you insist on, who you love serving. Fill it in over one coffee, and write your one plain sentence in the last box.
  • Fill-in templateOur “we don’t” listThree things you won’t do, the reason behind each, what you do instead, and a kind line for when someone asks anyway.
The What’s truly ours worksheet in the web book, part filled in with an example.
What’s truly ours, with a made-up example filled in

Who it’s for

For owners who started it to do things their way

For you if

  • You run a cafe, bakery, salon, barbershop, nail studio, shop, trade or small online store.
  • Someone asked what makes you different, and your answer could have been anyone’s.
  • A cheaper place just opened nearby, and you want to think before you match it.
  • You’re about to open, and the menu, the name and the page are still drafts.

Not for you if

  • You want a new logo, colors and fonts. That’s DIY Branding Like a Pro, on the same shelf.
  • You want a promise about sales or prices. Nobody can honestly make one.
  • You want legal advice about someone copying you. The book tells you when to ask a lawyer.
Get the book, $12

8 steps · 3 tools · read tonight

Your questions

Before you buy

What if there’s honestly nothing different about my business?

There nearly always is, but it’s small and you’ve stopped seeing it. The worksheet only asks about things that are already true: why you started, what you insist on, who you love serving. If you still come up short, ask two regulars why they come to you. They often name something you’d stopped noticing.

Do I need a new logo or a rebrand?

No. This book is about what’s yours, not how it looks. When you want the look to match, that’s DIY Branding Like a Pro, on the same shelf.

Will this let me charge more?

It doesn’t promise that. It helps you give people reasons besides price, and shows you what to check before you match a cheaper place. Talk to your accountant before any price change.

I haven’t opened yet. Is it too early?

It’s the best time. Every step works before the sign, the menu and the page exist, so nothing has to be reprinted.

I sell the same products as everyone, or I run a franchise. Does it still work?

If you resell, your difference is in what you stock, what you know, how you treat people and what you won’t do. In a franchise, the look, menu and prices are usually set by your agreement, so the book works on what you control. Check your agreement before you change anything.

How long does it take?

About 52 minutes to read. The worksheet takes an evening. The rest fits into four weeks, one step at a time.

How to Build a Business That's Truly Yours

Cross out what everyone says. Sign what’s yours.

$12one price, no upsells
Get the book, $12

A web book: read it online and download a copy. Nothing is posted to you. No refunds: you get the whole book straight away.