The intellectual property in your business includes the knowledge, frameworks, processes and ideas you have developed through years of experience. Some of it may already exist inside a course, workbook, model or program. Plenty of it may still be sitting between your ears.
I ran a retreat recently where we spent time exploring this.
I asked the women in the room to think about the questions their clients ask repeatedly, the processes they have refined, the stories they tell and the way they approach problems.
These are the things that make their work distinct.
When you have used a process for years, it can feel completely natural. You may assume everyone knows how to do it. Meanwhile, your clients value that process because it helps them reach an outcome more quickly and with greater confidence.
That knowledge is worth capturing.
Your expertise can become a business asset
Think about what would leave your business with you if you switched off the lights and walked away tomorrow.
It could include:
- The steps you take when working with a new client
- The questions you ask to uncover the real problem
- A framework you use to help clients make decisions
- A model you have developed to explain a complex idea
- Stories and examples that help your clients understand your work
- Templates, checklists or tools you have refined over time
- The particular way you combine your experience and expertise
Once you identify these assets, you can start documenting them.
A process can become a checklist. A repeated coaching conversation can become a workshop. A set of questions can become a diagnostic tool. A proven approach can become a framework used across your services, marketing and team training.
Capturing your expertise also makes it easier to communicate your value. You can clearly explain how you work, what makes your approach useful and how it helps your clients get results.
Look for what you have already created
At the retreat, I asked everyone to consider what they had already captured.
Some of their knowledge existed in courses, workbooks, models and programs. Other ideas were scattered across notebooks, client calls, presentations and documents.
Then we considered a bigger question.
What valuable knowledge was still sitting in their heads?
Business owners often create valuable material while responding to immediate needs. You answer a client’s question, solve a difficult problem or explain an idea in a way that suddenly makes sense. Then you move on to the next task.
Over time, those answers form a substantial body of work.
Start noticing the questions you answer repeatedly and the language you naturally use. Review your client notes, workshop slides, podcast episodes and email content. Look for concepts that keep appearing.
Repetition often points towards an idea worth developing.
Find the thread running through your work
We also looked for the anchor connecting everything each person does.
Later that evening, over dinner, a couple of people turned the question back on me.
“So Emma, what’s your anchor?”
I had just finished writing Selling Without the Ick, which comes out in October. I had spent months thinking about sales, writing about sales and coaching people through sales.
I expected “sales” to be my answer.
The word that came out was “results”.
It surprised me. After I sat with it, it made complete sense.
Whether I am coaching someone on pricing, helping them simplify their offers, building a business model, running a BD Sprint or talking about profit and accountability, I am always asking the same question.
Will this create a result?
That result might be more revenue, stronger profit, increased confidence, better decisions, greater freedom or a healthier business.
Sales is one of the ways I help people reach those outcomes. Results are the thread running through the work.
Your anchor can clarify your business
Finding your anchor can help you make clearer decisions about your services, content and intellectual property.
When you understand the central idea connecting your work, you can use it to assess new opportunities.
Ask yourself:
- Does this idea connect with the work I want to be known for?
- Will it help my clients achieve a meaningful outcome?
- Does it strengthen an existing framework or process?
- Is there a useful idea here that I need to capture?
Your anchor can also help you organise the intellectual property in your business. Separate ideas begin to fit together. You may see how several offers connect, where a new resource belongs or which piece of knowledge could become your next program.
Nine years into running my business, I still discover new things about my own work. Creating space to step back and examine it helps me see patterns that are difficult to spot during a full working week.
Ready to find the thread in your business?
Join me at Day with the Queen on 22 October for focussed time to step back, examine your business and make clear decisions about what comes next.