Would You Buy a Bright Blue Banana?

How to Check If You've Actually Got a Bright Blue Banana

By Patrick M. Tarpey | Log

"My business is different," they tell me. "It doesn't play by the normal rules. Every other business runs by them — mine doesn't."

"Really?" I say.

"Okay," I go. "Let's just assume yours is completely unique. Doesn't obey any of the rules everyone else seems to run by. Let's give it a go."

Right, I've done this enough times to know there are patterns almost every business follows. The job isn't proving you're the exception. It's finding which pattern actually applies to you.

Nigel Botterill — who founded the Entrepreneurs' Circle, so he'd know — puts it better than I do:

"I bet there are some unique businesses. But I bet yours isn't one of them."

Look — we all do it. We just don't like saying we do.

That our product, service, our whole business, is special. Different. Unique.

A Bright Blue Banana in a world of boring yellow ones.

But be honest. If you saw a bright blue banana in a shop, would you buy it? Or would you pick up the familiar yellow one, because it feels safer?

That's the reality of standing out. People say they want different. They hesitate when different is actually in front of them.

Most businesses aren't Bright Blue Bananas.

They're slightly bruised yellow ones. Familiar. Safe. Forgettable.

And here's the worst part — plenty of people are fine with that. They say they want to stand out. Deep down, they'd rather blend in.

People Say They Want One Thing. They Want Something Else.

Take coffee.

You've met the person who marches into a café, chest out, and orders the strongest, blackest coffee on the menu. No milk. No sugar. Pure jet-fuel masculinity in a cup.

Put the same person through a blind taste test, and they'll pick the mellow, smooth, slightly sweet one every time.

What people say they want and what they actually want are often two different things.

The same thing happens in business.

People come to me saying,

"I need more leads. My Google Ads aren't working."

They think the fix is more marketing. More traffic.

But when I look under the bonnet, the ads usually aren't the problem. The problem is there's no follow-up system. No one's answering the phone when leads do come in. They're haemorrhaging customers simply by being too slow to respond.

More leads won't fix that. It's asking for a faster horse when what you need is a car.

The (Probably Made-Up) Henry Ford Line

There's an old story about Henry Ford — the man who reinvented the car industry — being asked why he didn't just build what people wanted.

His supposed answer:

"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse."

Nobody can actually prove Ford said it. Historians generally reckon it's apocryphal. But whoever said it first was onto something.

People could only imagine a better version of what they already had. Nobody was asking for cars. They were asking for a slightly less rubbish horse.

The same thing happens in business today.

Customers ask for Feature X.

What they need is Solution Y.

They ask for more leads. What they need is a system to handle the ones they've already got.

The best businesses don't take requests at face value. They work out what's actually going on underneath.

Your Business Might Not Be as Different as You Think

Most businesses think they're a Bright Blue Banana. New. Exciting. Fresh.

What they're actually selling is a slightly bruised yellow one. A marginal tweak on what already exists.

People being people, we like the easy route. Blending in is easier. Standing out is hard. So we avoid it.

The businesses that actually thrive stop playing it safe. They don't tinker at the edges.

They change the fruit bowl.

How to Check If You've Actually Got a Bright Blue Banana

Ask yourself:

• Do you solve a real problem?

• Would anybody care or notice if you disappeared tomorrow?

• Are you really different, or are you just marketing yourself as different?

The best businesses don't follow what people say they want.

They work out what people actually need.

So — would you really buy the Bright Blue Banana?

Or the safe, slightly bruised yellow one?

Not Sure Which One You're Selling?

If you're not sure whether your business genuinely stands out or simply blends into the crowd, let's have a conversation.

At Magnitude, I help business owners identify what really makes them different, uncover what's holding back their marketing, and build strategies that attract the right customers—not just more traffic.

Call: 01902 214323

Email: patrick@magnitude.biz

Or visit Magnitude to find out how we help businesses grow. I'd be delighted to have a chat and help you discover whether you're selling a Bright Blue Banana—or just another slightly bruised yellow one.