Sacrifice revenue for simplicity

Simplify to grow

The problem with being a solo-founder is the necessity of wearing so many hats.

This brings with it, the temptation to perform each of these “hats” to the level of a professional in that field. i.e.

• Crafting emails like a copywriter

• Doing social media posts like a social media manager

• Selling like a Sales professional

But it’s just not possible to put that level of quality into every area of your business.

We therefore need to make some sacrifices.

Instead, we strategically choose which areas require the quality.

I’ve spoken a lot about this in previous posts, so I won’t go into that deeper now, but one area I’m constantly learning more about is that sometimes it’s better to sacrifice revenue in exchange for a more efficient business.

When done right, this can lead to more time for marketing, more time for customer care, and less stress overall.

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Here’s an example. Imagine you’re a service business or media business and you’re selling bespoke packages based on various needs. It probably makes sense to sell bespoke options as you can tailor them to each customer and maximize revenue whilst also giving the customer a better experience.

The problem with this approach is that making things bespoke adds time and complexity to your business. You need to:

• Spend time thinking about and crafting the bespoke option

• Discussing it with potential customer

• Creating custom contracts

• Delivering on contract (with different deliverables each time)

It means each time, you’re starting from scratch.

An alternative approach is to simplify what you offer into more generalized offerings and automate the sales process by selling them directly on your site and implement the management process into that system.

Yes, the offering is less tailored and your revenue is slightly lower, but your time investment is also significantly lower, meaning your revenue:effort ratio is also much better.

You can then take that extra time that you have and put that into growth activities such as marketing or sales, and build your pipeline more.

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Here’s the approach I would take to do this:

Step 1: Analyze Your Offering Start by thoroughly evaluating your product or service offering. Identify the core components that deliver the most value to clients. These elements will form the basis of your fixed-price packages.

Step 2: Design Standardized Packages Next, create a set of standardized packages that bundle your core offering at different price points and service levels. Each tier should provide clear value while aligning with your target market segments.

Step 3: Implement Self-Serve Purchasing Now it's time to automate the buying experience. Integrate your standardized packages into your website, allowing customers to review options and make purchases without extensive sales interactions.

Build standardized contracts directly into the process so that it’s all automated.

I recommend no-code tools for building these types of systems as you can usually build the entire system in a day or two.

Step 4: Refine Your Model As you implement this automated approach, closely monitor sales data and customer feedback. Look for opportunities to optimize your packages, pricing, and user experience.

Have you built any systems like this? Let me know in the comments below