Biz fundamentals (1 of 5) Your Offering

Biz fundamentals (1 of 5) Your Offering

An overview:

There are 5 areas I like to focus on when a company is starting up or having trouble with cash flow or acquiring customers. It is extremely important that you understand your weaknesses and strengths as they relate to each area listed.

(I understand that I'm perhaps over simplifying these - my goal is to get you thinking and to build your own philosophy around the following areas).

1. Pre-work - refining your offering. Making sure what your offer is in line with who you are.

2. Marketing message- getting really clear about what you want to offer in the market place, your strengths, weaknesses, and competitors.

3. Lead Generation - we need a solid plan on how to acquire prospects or how to get to those people/companies who may be interested, (notice I said interested not 'who may be benefited by...')

4. Sales - you need to know how to sell your product/service and who to sell it to. Understand your weaknesses and strengths as a sales person. If you think your weakness is sales than you need to get it to a point where you are at the very least decent in sales or average.

5. Business development - there are companies that you can attach yourself to or partner with (VARS) that can and will serve as a revolving door and either bring you prospects or sell your products or services for you (if it will benefit them).

Now let us focus on the first entry of this small series:

I assume that if you are reading this blog and desire to start a business or perhaps have one already that you understand your offering.

But, if for some reason you want to start a business and right now are uncertain of what your offering should be than you need to do some soul searching. The conclusion is you should be aware of what you could sell.

Yes! I said 'sell'. In the beginning of your business venture unless you have partners (who know how to sell) and sufficient capital then you will have to roll up your sleeves and sell your own product and/or service.

On a side note: if you have an existing business that is suffering and you haven't quite focused on sales development this could be the reason why everything is less than ideal.

Experts agree that starting a business in the same industry or offering the same product/service that your experience dictates is a wise thing to do. Part of the advise if at all possible is to get experience in the industry more importantly get experience selling a similar product and/or service that you feel would be ideal in your business.

In regards to developing your offering the first question that comes to mind is what inspires you the most:

A) A Product - tangible, physical
b) A Concept - intangible, non-physical

If you love the world of concepts and ideals, if you like teaching, or are a day dreamer you should choose 'A'. If you are a believe
of things only when you can touch, see, and taste and are kinesthetic then choose 'B'.

Selling a 'product' is something you can see and touch, like computer hardware or cars or furniture. Selling a 'service' is something like teaching a subject, or being a consultant, selling life insurance. You truly have to sell people on a dream. This is not something they can see and touch, but more of what they will have to envision and understand.

Now what you should do is think about your gifts and talents.

Ask yourself:

What are you good at and enjoy doing?
Chances are that if you have lived a little while than you know what you like doing.

Now obsess over:

How can you develop this into a product or service you can offer?

Next, how can you develop this offering into a business?

Unless, what you like doing is dysfunctional than you should have a good idea what you would like to be selling in your business. If you are still having a challenge with this you can do a couple of things call me or obsess about your talents, knowledge and skill talk to your network or friends or family and read anything by Marcus Buckingham and what would ultimately help is getting to know your personality or temperament David Keirsey is wonderful for that.