What SHOULD you sell? It’s perhaps the most important question you have to answer at the beginning of any business. And it’s not only about products, it’s also about services you might provide to people. It’s hard to know the answer, but one way to narrow down your options is to use three simple words to evaluate opportunities you come across. Those three words? Problem. Pain. Passion. Find out more on this episode.
[0:39] It’s not easy to determine what you should sell – product OR service.
[2:24] The foolish assumption many would-be entrepreneurs make.
How many times have you heard someone say – or maybe you’ve said it yourself – “Man, this is such a great idea! We should figure out a way to sell it!” It happens all the time. And some of the time you might be right – it actually IS a great idea that people would pay money for. But much of the time it’s just an idea that YOU appreciate and the broader market of people would not show as much enthusiasm for it, at least not enough to make them get out their wallets to pay for it. On this episode, I’m going to tell you how to avoid this mistake of jumping into the business waters with a focus on the wrong product or service.
[4:15] What is the real NEED or PROBLEM that you are trying to solve?
[5:58] The people who are most motivated to buy what you sell are those who have a PAIN.
If you want a market that will beat down your door to by what you sell, you have to tap into a legitimate pain point, and many times it will be an actual, physical pain. Think of migraine sufferers, those who deal with chronic pain, etc. It’s one explanation why the cannabis industry has exploded as a solution to pain relief. I’m not suggesting you jump into the cannabis industry – but what I am suggesting is that you consider the possibility that God may have equipped you in some unique way to help people with a true pain point in their lives. You can find out more by listening.
[9:51] What should you sell? Maybe something having to do with the passions people have.
When it comes to determining what you should sell there is one possibility that I believe Christ-follower need to think and pray about before they dive in. It’s the area of providing something that enables people to pursue an area of passion. No, I’m not talking about anything indecent, I’m talking about hobbies, interests, artistic endeavors – the kinds of things people love to immerse themselves in. Why is it something you need to pray about? Because just because people are immersed in it doesn’t mean that’s a good thing, for them or for the world. And as a Christ-follower you need to be clearly led by God to understand your role in those areas. I’ve got more to say about it on this episode, so join me, won’t you?
[12:25] How to apply Problem, Pain, and Passion to your own business approach.
If we were approaching this whole thing of business building and answering the question, “What should I sell?” from a purely profit-centered approach, this podcast episode would be over. But we’re not. We are Christ-followers. We want to add eternal value to the world. In light of that we need to look at how these areas of problem, pain, and passion (especially passion) relate to OUR ability to address needs in a particular market. I know, that’s a bit vague and a potentially difficult to understand – but I think I’ve addressed it more clearly on the audio for this episode. So I’d love for you to get involved by thinking it through with me. Welcome aboard the Live Build Change train. 😉
- www.PodcastFastTrack.com (my podcast production business)
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- www.LiveBuildChange.com/coaching – life and business coaching
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