The Cape Talk business awards, the fish cake and what makes you truly unique as a business

I was gracefully invited to help with the judging of the Cape Talk radio stations small business awards. My job which i enjoyed thoroughly was to prepare the businesses for the actual judging process. One of the key questions for all the businesses was , "what makes you unique?" or your unique selling position USP? The example i gave them was the previous years winner who was a fish shop but his real USP was his fish cakes. A great story. So I asked all the businesses " what their fish cake is?" Some had some interesting fish cakes....a transport company that focuses on women to airport, a alternative food company that makes a pizza that takes 5 days to make, a biltong maker who has made chicken biltong, a pyjama manufacturer who makes a one piece that is very popular. When looking carefully every business had a fish cake but they seldom focused on this when they explained their business. Instead they focused on being very corporate like. I explained to them that when explaining their business they should always tell a  great story that focuses on their USP or fish cake. Then one business asked me for my fish cake....oops on the spot! So i told them the story of the vine, and that my fish cake is "The seeing the leaves workshops". So next time you explain your business and someone asks you what you do, tell them what your fish cake is!