I’ve recently had the pleasure of helping a small business develop their positioning strategy and launch materials. The company, Paywiz, is a Toronto based firm specializing in Canadian payroll services. It is inspiring to meet entrepreneurs who see this economy as an opportunity rather than a hinderance. It is clear to me that Paywiz, in developing their brand strategy paid close attention to strong, positive brand values. They recognized the opportunity that the competition presented in the payroll category.

Namely complete service in everything related to payroll in Canada. Paywiz management, having many years of experience inside the payroll industry saw this opportunity and decided to claim it as their own.

Their brand positioning strategy- PAYWIZ: the ONLY payroll solution to deliver everything.

Clear and right to the point. Due to the fact that Paywiz is a young progressive company they have snatched up the determination to deliver services that the older players simply ignore in delivering traditional payroll services. Utilizing technology and good old fashion spunk, Payroll aims to quickly build a customer base by delivering everything – resulting in a confidence that allows small business owners the freedom to work more effectively at their core competencies rather than spending valuable time tying-up loose ends traditional payroll models leave wanting.

Paywiz’s positioning strategy has invigorated management. The logo is simple, but the message is clear – all encompassing – EVERYTHING. The overall image is clean, simple and accessible. The CEO of Paywiz, Peter Marossis, is authoring a corporate blog called,Everything Payroll Blog. Here visitors can have direct access to the leadership of the company and pick up valuable information that has an impact on “everything payroll”. ( The launch article will be up in a about a week.) As you may be able to determine at this point, ( if you checked out the links) Paywiz’s action word is “EVERYTHING”.

When the North American business community is cringing with each daily news report, there are those of us who see the opportunities a slowing economy presents. It represents the old – every dark cloud has a silver lining story. Myself, I have never been busier. This economy has presented opportunities for my services because companies who want a stronger positioning strategy that truly differentiates them, are turning to branding consultants to help them in finding a better strategy. Traditional marketing with catchy slogans and low pricing have gotten them flat results. More times than not, they are blending in with the regular deluge of desperate small businesses trying to pry dollars from an already thin customer wallet with a quick commodity fix.

Take one step back and look at how you are delivering your services – your silver lining exists. One more example emerged even last evening at a restaurant. I bumped into an acquaintance who is in retail and he lamented that his market has been pummeled by the economy and he didn’t believe he’d be here in another few years. I got the conversation going toward toward his expertise. He mentioned that many suppliers and industry people contact him regularly for his advice on topics.

Now a simple question emerged: “Couldn’t you start charging a consulting fee for that same advice, and aggressively go after it?” He just stopped – looked at me and calmly said – “man Ed, there’s an opportunity there.” – EXACTLY!. Don’t dwell on the negative.

If you refuse to look for the opportunities, you can join the thousands of businesses who moan on about the economy, or you can lead the way to your success. All of us – in the running of our businesses, give away services that we could be charging for. For all the doom and gloom, the vast majority among us are still employed and consuming. The simple truth is that they, like you, only want to deal with the smart companies. Surround yourself with smart thinking, positive influences. Negative thinking will only deliver a negative result.

Follow the example of companies like PAYWIZ who saw holes in the competitive strategy, and boldly filled it themselves.

AS ONE IDEA FLOUNDERS, ANOTHER IS BORN.