WHAT IS YOUR WIDGET?

This week’s poll question was either totally obvious or confusing. ??

#4 of 11. Though we may have several products, on which product should we calculate our proforma?

·???? Our core product

·???? All products combined

·???? An average price of all products

The answer is “our core product”.

Easy. Obvious. Right?

Or is it?

What is our core product? What is the fundamental transaction that we are paid for?

Forget all the marketing adjectives and adverbs. What is the thing our customers and clients are buying?

Can we state our value in its most generic of terms?

My clients pay me for information.

My clients pay me for instruction.

My clients pay me to install an appliance.

My clients pay me to clean _____.

My clients pay me to create _____.

My clients pay me to do something they cannot do.

My clients pay me to do what they hate doing.

My clients pay me to end their desire to _____.

What is our widget, the most basic statement of the value our clients pay for, the outcome they receive?

That’s what this poll question is about.

Our core product is the basis of our business and our financial well-being. When we truly deliver our stated promise, we will price it better, and more clearly convey its value. Often, when we try to appeal to too large of a market segment, we dilute our promise.

AND ESPECIALLY FOR STARTUPS

Know the outcome we deliver.

State it clearly, with authority and conviction.

Use words of simple clarity.

Buyers buy an outcome from people and brands they believe and trust.

I’m Steve Gatter.

• As a business coach to startups and freelancers, I provide instruction to design and start a business.
• As the Facilitator of a think tank for entrepreneurs, I provide a safe harbor for businesspeople and their ideas to become clear and valuable.
• As the co-founder of Business Klub, we provide mastermind groups and events for freelancers and early-stage business owners to accelerate their business learning curves.

?

Our core product is our widget. It is why we started our business. It is the difference we want to make, and it makes our communities better.

Our proforma is a financial model, and the keystone to our business design, that is based on our widget, our core product, which should be priced to produce the revenue we want given the capacity we have.