“Give a solution, solve for a day; teach problem-solving, solve for a lifetime.”
This week I shared how I started seeing Lean principles applied everywhere and business models are no different.
Covid-19 put a lot of people on the sidelines with a common problem in mind
“How am I going to make money now?”
The internet had more attention than ever before and people with audiences or “influencers” tried a lot of things, one of them booming in the span of 6 to 12 months.
The Solopreneur.
If you haven’t followed this trend, a Solopreneur is a person that offers a service (very rarely a product) on the back of having a significant audience at a premium. Mostly B2C. Most charge a lot.
How does Lean come into play? By removing all the questioning and guessing and thinking that happens when you want to start a business. All of this is WASTE.
Let me elaborate on the problem-solving approach followed to reach such a business.
In the digital service world, business models come at speed, being first to market is more important than being the best, so:
1. They Niche themselves
They find a particular group of people who they are going to offer their service to.
Example “40+ Year old men not in shape”
2. They find a Problem to resolve for their Niche
If there is no value added to a customer, can you even legally charge money?
Example “I will get you in shape with 30 min workouts”
3. They put a high price tag
The technical term is product-market-fit, charge customers the value you offer.
Example “Insert price here” There are PTs out there charging $300 a month – Lesson: Sell to the Rich
4. Scale Mechanism
How can they distribute this service to as many people as possible? This is what most people see, for example SaaS, Coaching, Consulting, etc….
Example “I am an online Personal Trainer”
5. Access channel
Social Media essentially, which of the different social media platforms you are going to use to let people find you or market your service.
Example “I advertise myself on LinkedIn”
This is problem-solving applied to the problem of starting a business.
Removing all the faff and second guessing – WASTE
Niche – Problem – Price – Scale – Access
It’s amazing how the Lean principles are truly everywhere and can be applied to anything.
Do you think this is sustainable in the long run? Can 1 person reach $10M in Annual recurring revenue on their own?
Justin Welsh is on its way to it…
#LeanSixSigma#ServiceIndustry#Solopreneur#BusinessModelInnovation#ProblemSolving#Entrepreneurship