Good-Hearted Business Owner: You Are Your Product

By Christina Suter on Feb 13, 2016 at 12:12 PM in Business Issues
Good Hearted Business Owner- You Are Your Product

You define your business. As a sole proprietor, you are the one who defines how the product works, what the culture of the company is, what your company’s integrity is, how it runs, and what people expect from it. From the level of customer service to the quality of the service or the physical product, you determine it all. Your original vision is what got you started, but is your product or service welcome in the marketplace?

When people got around town in horse drawn carriages, there was a buggy whip. There was a need for the product and there was an audience for it. When the car showed up however, the buggy whip went out of business. It’s possible for your product to not be viable for the market. Is it true that your product is in relationship to your vision and are you making sure that you’re speaking it out into the world? People have a tendency to shy away from anything they consider sales. So you might be making it impossible for your clients to buy into your product.

The technicalities of creating a product.

I’ve shared this story before, that upon meeting someone at a rotary meeting I was asked what I did and my lax response was, “I talk to people”. Well, people can’t enroll in ‘I talk to people’, but they can enroll in your vision, and the technical’s of your product. If in fact your service is talking to people, your job is to explain who you are and why there’s value in talking to you. You and your product aren’t very far apart, so what is it about your product that’s unique and the way in which you deliver that product.

If your business is service you have to make clear to people what you desire to provide: You want to give their kids a safe place to play. You want to give people clean water, etc.

Your job is to get clear on what you offer and what’s unique to you. In essence I’m challenging you to create an elevator speech. Fill out the following sentence: I wish my client understood ____ about my company. That is your product. The difference I want to make is ___. The technicalities are things such as, it has copper piping, it is easy to install, etc.

Answering those questions will give you an elevator speech and will give you the verbiage for your website. That information is what clearly conveys your vision and gives your clients something to buy into.

Your purpose was given to you in that vision. It doesn’t have to be that you received it from God, but there was something that lit you up and you decided to engage. You get permission to make a difference by being clear in offering what your product is. Confused minds don’t choose, confused minds won’t make a purchase. Give people the possibility to understand and to enroll, that’s how you gain their permission to help them. Don’t let your lack of clarifying your product be the thing that keeps them from changing their lives.

If you’re goodhearted, you know that you can help people. The clarity I challenge you to develop is the only way to prove to them that you can.