Differentiation. USP—unique selling proposition. Wow-factor.
You’ve heard it described in different ways, but they’re all getting at the same thing.
What makes your business unique?
Why should residents choose your sober living home over another sober living home?
If you don’t know the answer to this question, you need to do some soul-searching about how to best position your sober living home in a crowded market.
Today, we’ll look at how to evaluate your current sober living home for a unique “selling point” based on your ideal resident. When you do the hard work of planning up front, you can rest easy as each of these important pieces falls into place and your sober living home begins to sell itself.
Evaluate the Competition
Check out the other sober living homes in your area. Consider making a spreadsheet to take a full survey of the field. Depending on the population density of your area, you may take a survey of the entire state or you may just want to focus on one neighborhood. Once you’ve defined the geographical boundary you’re interested in, ask yourself the following questions:
Who does the sober living home serve?
Who do they NOT serve?
Are there any exclusionary rules that bar certain kinds of people from living there (people on MAT, people with kids, people with pets, people with disabilities, couples, etc)?
What’s the culture like? (AA-based, faith-based, culturally specific—predominantly Native American, African American, Asian, etc)
Once you’ve gathered all of this information, start looking for holes in the competition. Ask questions like:
Does my target area only have AA-based sober living homes?
Is anyone allowing pets?
Is anyone allowing MAT?
Does my target area have a lot of LGBTQ people? Is anyone serving them, specifically?
Does my target area have a women’s only sober home? What about a home that allows children?
Are all of the sober living homes run down? Are there any “nicer” options for wealthier people?
Are all of the sober living homes expensive? Are there any budget options available?
Define Your Ideal Resident
Once you’ve identified the holes in your market, start narrowing down the ones you’re interested in. Not every niche is a good fit for every sober living home operator.
Consider your natural strengths as an entrepreneur. Leverage the advantages you already have at your disposal. If you have strong ties to a community that is underrepresented in the market and you feel there is sufficient demand for a sober living home in that community, that’s a great place to start.
Consider, too, the type of resident you’re willing to deal with. Broadly speaking, sober living homes that cater to residents with criminal records will see a higher level of NIMBY activity than, say, sober living homes aimed at serving residents over 65. Sober living homes with a pet friendly policy will need to have higher budgets to cover the increased wear and tear on the carpet, walls, and back yard. Every demographic has positives and negatives from a business point of view. Determine the negatives you’re willing to put up with and work backwards from there.
Uniqueness Counts
When you make your business model unique, residents will find you organically. They’ll hear about the LGBTQ-only sober living home, the sober living home that offers yoga classes, or the only sober living home in the area that takes pets. You’ve given people a talking point about your facility that is remarkable and shareable. People who feel your home is a good fit for them will be drawn to you naturally.
Whatever unique selling proposition you choose, BehaveHealth’s Sober Living App can help you stay organized and run your facility efficiently. Handle everything from intake paperwork to billing to facilities maintenance all from the convenience of your phone. Store every piece of information about your business in our cloud-based system and never misplace another important document again. See why more and more sober living home operators are making the switch to the Sober Living App. Start your free trial today.