Lately I’ve been presenting my most popular workshop ‘How to Start a Side Hustle’ both online and in person around Australia.
The mission for StartUp Creative from the beginning was to be the ‘go-to source for straight up business advice.’ I aim to break business related topics into practical and digestible lessons that will educate and empower people to start and scale their side hustles into viable businesses.
A lesson that I’ve found myself repeating and that is resonating with audiences is a simple business definition of a business model that I call ‘Business 101’. Over the year I’ve studied what makes a business successful. From reading books, coaching founders and conducting interviews with globally successful companies for our Magazine and Podcast, I found that it wasn’t as scary or unattainable as one may think and in my opinion, you don’t need an MBA or years of experience to understand it.
Simply put, business is an exchange of value for money.
Let me explain—
Businesses should firstly aim to solve a problem and offer a solution to or that problem and/or add value to a persons life, most commonly in the form of a product and/or service.
The logical next step is to find the people (customers) who are willing and able to exchange their money for this solution or value add.
There are a number of factors that will influence the customers decision as to weather they are willing (see the value in your offering) and able (can afford your price point) to commit to the exchange.
When deciding on what we offer and how much we want to sell it for (the exchange of money for value) we often find ourselves starting with our customer at the forefront and risk underselling ourselves and downplaying our value in order to make the exchange (sale). This isn’t all bad if you’re starting out and need to get some runs on the board to test your offering and make sure that people want what you have to sell. But it’s just as important to return to your value proposition on a regular basis to ensure that the exchange is fair and that your business is profitable.
So if you’ve found yourself lacking in customers of late and can’t quite figure out how to convert interested people to paying customers, it might be a good time to review your business model.
Questions to consider:
What problem is my business solving or value is it adding?
Who needs/wants it?
How much are they willing and able to pay for it?
Can they currently get it somewhere else?
How is my business offering something different?
How can I showcase my value to incentivise an exchange of money for my offering?
Where are the people who are willing and able to spend money on my offering spending their time?
How can I get in front of them to showcase my value?
What questions might they need answered before they make a purchase?
How can I demonstrate my ability to deliver the value/solution to the standard they want?
Do I have a track record to prove my abilities and how can I communicate this to my potential customers?
Remember that people work hard for the money that they earn and in this economy, often need to think long and hard about what and where they invest their dollars. Your job as a business owner is to showcase why they should invest in your offering, how it will help or impact them and work hard to gain their trust so that they feel confident that you can and will deliver of your side of the exchange.
If you’re in need of a personalised Business 101 health check, get in touch to book in a 1:1 Coaching Session and together we’ll review your value, how you can stand out in the market place, where to find more of your ideal customer that are willing and able to invest in you and I’ll help you to make an actionable plan to scale your business and make it profitable.
Enjoy the process.
Kay
Get in touch: kaylene@startupcreative.com.au
This was super helpful! Loved the way you phrased the questions and put it all together. It definitely gave me some ideas about ways to get in front of my audience - and a bit more clarity about who they are and where they hang out. Thank you for sharing!