One of the best shows on television for entrepreneurs is The Profit with Marcus Lemonis on CNBC. Watch it through Marcus’s eyes, but also through the eyes of the business owners he’s trying to help. Marcus focuses on what he calls the Three P’s: People, Process, and Product. Today James and Megan focus on the third P, Product. Do it right, and your Products are an anti-Kryptonite!

Our anti-Kryptonite today: Product

Why is your Product critical to the success of your business?:

• Product in this context is more than just physical goods, because even a service results in something being produced for your clients.
• Without products, how can you even have a business?
• For a product to be a good one, it must relate to your target market and be of high quality. This will determine the value of your product in the marketplace.

What do you need to focus on when evaluating your products?:

• Quality
  • Does it excel in comparison to similar products?
  • Does the product hold up over time?
  • Can the customer tell the level of quality before, during, and after experiencing it?
• Value
  • Does your customer feel that your product is worth what they pay for it?
  • At what point would they regret making the purchase?
• Results
  • What benefit or change does your customer get by using your product?
  • Does it improve their life?
  • Does it save them time or money or frustration?
  • The results can be emotional or intangible.
• Quantity
  • Sometimes you have lots of good products, but they cannibalize each other and confuse your customers.
  • Look at your entire offering and see if it needs to be more focused.
  • Also look to see if any products are missing from what you’re offering. There could be big opportunities by filling those gaps.

How can you improve your Products?:

• Evaluate your customer satisfaction, pricing, delivery, quality, and branding/marketing.
• Look for where you can increase the value of your product and/or lower production costs in order to maximize profit.
• Decide if you will join the race to the bottom (pricing, quality, etc.) or offer premium products and experiences.
• Often simply improving product presentation, delivery, and customer service can improve a product that is already good or excellent.

Action Steps:

1. Do an intentional review of all of your products. What needs to change?
2. Evaluate your entire offering. Is there too much? Are things missing?
3. Identify and implement one change that has the most potential to improve your business.

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