You’re Not Doing Too Much. You’re Probably Just in the Wrong Box.
If you’ve ever felt like your business doesn’t fit neatly into one category, you’re not alone.
A lot of small business owners feel boxed in without knowing why. You might sell t shirts, run a skincare brand, offer services, work B2B or juggle a few things at once and still feel like people only see one tiny slice of what you actually do.
I recently learned about a concept called category design and it helped connect a lot of dots for me. Not because it was brand new, but because it gave language to something many of us are already doing without realizing it.
So let’s talk about it. Plain English.
What is category design?
Category design is the idea that instead of competing inside a crowded market, you define the lane you are actually in.
Most businesses operate inside existing boxes:
- T shirt maker
- Skincare brand
- Coach
- Service provider
- Digital products
- B2B solutions
Those labels are not wrong, but they are incomplete.
Category design asks a different question.
Instead of:
How do I stand out in this category?
It asks:
What problem am I really solving and how do I name that clearly?
When you define the problem first, the category starts to shape itself.
Why this matters for small business owners
When you stay stuck in a generic category, a few things usually happen:
- You get compared on price
- People don’t understand why you charge what you charge
- Your work gets oversimplified
- Your business feels harder than it should
That’s not always a marketing problem. A lot of times it’s a language problem.
If people don’t understand why you exist, they default to comparing you to the cheapest option.
What this looks like in real businesses
Here’s where this gets practical.
A t shirt maker is not always just selling shirts.
They might be helping people show up unified for events, teams, milestones or moments that matter.
A skincare business is not just selling products.
They might be helping customers simplify routines, solve confidence issues or stop wasting money on products that do not work for them.
A service-based business is not just offering a service.
They might be reducing overwhelm, saving time or fixing broken systems that cause stress.
A B2B business is not just providing a solution.
They are often solving clarity, consistency or efficiency problems for other businesses.
The product or service does not change.
The understanding of what it’s really for does.
How category design actually works
You do not need a big brand or a fancy strategy deck to apply this.
Start by asking yourself a few honest questions:
- What do people always come to me confused about?
- What do I explain over and over?
- What part of the process do I make easier or less stressful?
- What problem do people feel before they ever find me?
Those answers point to your category.
Category design is not about being clever. It is about being clear.
The realization that hit me
I am still learning about category design, but what stood out was realizing I have been unknowingly doing pieces of this for a long time. I just did not have the language for it.
Certain things worked not because I was lucky, but because I was framing my work around real problems instead of just products or services.
Knowing there is an actual concept behind it helps things click. It turns trial and error into intention and honestly, that alone is helpful.
Why this is worth thinking about
If you have ever said:
- I do more than people think I do
- My business does not fit in one box
- I hate being compared to cheaper options
- I struggle to explain what makes me different
This might be why.
Category design is not about doing more. It is about explaining what you already do in a way that makes sense to the right people.
If this resonates, I highly recommend digging into it on your own and seeing how it shows up in your business. Even a small shift in language can change how your work is perceived.
Sometimes the problem is not your offer. It is the box it’s sitting in.
A few questions to sit with:
- What problem do my customers have before they ever need my product or service?
- What do people misunderstand about what I do?
- If someone had to explain my business without naming my product, what would they say I help with?
- Am I being compared on price because my value isn’t clear, or because my category is too generic?