For small service firms--and that includes a lot of us--creating products based on your services has strong benefits – starting with boosting your revenue without taking more time.
“But how do I carve out the time to do this?!?” you cry plaintively. “I’m already working flat out every day!” For me, it took two years to get Grow Your Business without Driving Yourself Crazy® out, and it was like having a second full-time job!
So where do you get the time? This question was raised at a recent Business Group meeting, and here are a variety of ways suggested by the members of that group. . . . plus the benefits to undertaking the effort.
WHY PRODUCTIZE YOUR SERVICES?
-- Greater credibility. Sets you apart from the crowd.
-- Gives you an additional source of revenue, perhaps even more than you can earn selling your services. Revenue comes in even when you’re away.
-- Allows you to reach customers you couldn’t serve otherwise, e.g., too far away, too small to afford you, different niche.
-- Lets you grow by hiring and training others to do what you do, by licensing or franchising.
-- A product-based company can be sold more readily and for more money than a service company. Or it can be run by others with less involvement by you.
-- Internal products, such as procedures manuals, increase productivity and provide the foundation for faster growth.
For me, this has meant turning advice for business owners into business owner groups, books, workshops, online tools, leader training programs, and the like.
Creating a sellable product automatically delivers a sense of credibility to you and your company. When your name is attached to goods sold your perception as service provider evolves into a leader of your field with skills and talent to teach to others. You grow. And branded product that becomes an office resource becomes a strong silent reminder that you are the leader in your field. Without you even knowing it, the purchasers of your product will talk about what they bought from you. A direct marketing program you don’t have to pay for or need to manage! You’ve created a viral marketing program that creates direct revenue. Can you beat that?
There are a number of reasons for turning your service into product. Reaching clients that are beyond your geographical boundaries is just one. You probably have plans to grow your business, to be able to reach new customers face-to-face. Before you do that, you will already have built in a possible customer/client relationship base worth developing. The business owners who have purchased your product will know who you are, will have benefited from the information or product they bought from you, and will be eager to learn what other outstanding growth tools you provide. They will become your new source for better and more services and revenue. If your business plans do not include expanding your geographic reach, you will have the tools ready to train someone else to cover the far-reaching clients who are waiting for more from your company.
TRICKS TO GETTING IT DONE WHEN YOU ARE REALLY BUSY
Here are ways some Business Group members have eased the process of “productizing” their services:
“Got my client to pay for it. The development work we did for our big client turned out to be 80% of the product. (Of course that last 20% took much more time than I figured!)”
“Turned it over to someone who I just hired. Part of her responsibility was to document her job and to create the procedures manual for others to use.”
Built it up through a series of talks and workshops. “I tape all my presentations, and record all the notes I write on the board. This is the raw material for my workbooks. Then I turned the workbooks into a book.”
Based it on training notes. “After I’d been giving training sessions to our field crews for awhile, I realized that my notes, along with their questions, would make a great manual that I could sell to others in our industry.”
Carved out weekly development time. “I set aside every Tuesday morning. I just don’t go to the office; I’ve got to do this at home.”
Took a sabbatical. “Getting away for 60 days made the difference. I did it during our slow winter period.”
“Someone else ran my day-to-day business while I developed products.”
Set an artificial deadline. “I promised it to someone outside by a certain date.” “I told my wife we’d take a vacation when this got done. She kept me on schedule.”
Hired a coach. “I hired her for regular phone check-ins just to keep me on track with this project.”
What worked for you? What have you tried that didn’t work? What keeps you from getting your creative work done?
I’d like to hear from you.
Mike Van Horn
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