The most powerful way to build a small business is to find a way to be unique and then promote the heck out of it. Of course, I hope it goes without saying that you must be unique in a way that someone wants.

If you are just different for different sake it might not help much. So how do you find out what matters? Ask your clients The best market research is probably right in front of your nose.

Here are 5 questions that will help you better understand what you do and why you should ask them. Be warned though, you may have to phrase them in several different ways to get the real answers.

1) Why did you hire us in the first place or what was it about our message, ad, brochure, website, that attracted you?

2) What do we do well or what keeps you coming back for more?

3) What could we do better?

4) Where did your last vendor, company, agent, let you down?

5) What frustrates you about our industry or in a perfect world (even if we didn’t know how we would do it) how could thrill you.

Anytime someone says that’s just the way everybody in our business does it…or “you can’t do that” then you know you might have the seed of a major opportunity.

By doing this you may learn that everything you thought about your business or how you promote your business is dead wrong. See people rarely buy for the reasons you think they do or should.

Or you might learn that you are doing a great job in every aspect of your life. Either way, your customers will feel more loved cause you asked.