More than I can handle

Understandably, a self-employed person or small SME is not concerned with his ‘appearance’. Not knowing what story to tell. That entrepreneur is mostly working very hard. It is much more lucrative to grab what you can get. Then sometimes you do “more” than you actually like. But that “more than” is much more common, I saw. More than you think (just kidding). A top ten accounting and tax consultancy firm literally says: ‘We are more than an accounting and tax consultancy firm’. In the construction industry, too, “more than building” is a fairly popular slogan. I even saw an employment agency that pretends to be more than an employment agency and technical companies that effortlessly stick “more than technology” under their names.

What is that anyway? It seems like you want to come out openly for your laziness or disinterest. I always wonder if it’s just a matter of a bad slogan. Does the “more than” company have quite a good story about who they are and what they stand for, but no one has been able to get it to the surface (yet)? Or do they overestimate the products or services they sell (poorly camouflaged with “more than”)? In the first case, the solution is fairly simple. You engage a creative mind capable of taking your organization in tow in what to tell, how to tell it, to whom and when. But in the second case, you are therefore dealing with overdue maintenance on your own products or services. Then you really have to get going as a company. The way you conceive, develop, produce and sell products must then be fundamentally different. Then you have to look for new business models, new markets and activities. Standstill now “more than” ever is decline.

“What is that anyway? It seems to be coming out openly
for laziness or disinterest.”

Then I read in the newspaper (FD) that it turns out that “companies that not only look at the numbers, but also critically examine their ins and outs in the market, are able to change course earlier and more rigorously than others. Of course. Because they are constantly seriously asking themselves what their added value is in the market. Because in doing so, they are more likely to see new opportunities. Because they prioritize their own story in strategic decisions. I also see this with clients who are constantly changing and adjusting. Who as a producer are becoming more and more like a service provider. Through increasing data and through measurable quality. For example, at a manufacturer of high-tech machinery. There they get – remotely – more and more data about the performance of “their” machines at customers. With those “remote diagnostics,” they can suddenly sell valuable advice. Thus, they are suddenly much “more than” a producer. Perhaps even more than they ever thought they would become. The mission is more than making a profit. The message is much more than a mission. Communication is more than a questionable story. So can the slogan be more than “more than”?