05 Feb The Importance of a Great Value Proposition

Winston Churchill said, “you have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” Of course, we all strive to stand up for something important, at some point, don’t we? Otherwise, what’s the point? Churchill knew it, and he stood up for a few pretty important things during his life, if you recall. I’d say he had a pretty good idea of what he was talking about.
This quote and this way of thinking applies not just to politics, but to business as well. At a certain point, as an entrepreneur, you have to stand up for something. You have to stand up for your product or service, and you have to do it in a big way. And that means that you have to decide specifically what it is that your product or service offers, and what its direct benefits are to your clients. That, friend, is what’s called a value proposition, a critical component to the success – or lack thereof – that you’re going to enjoy.
As part of the value proposition, you need to determine who your client base is, because they’re the ones you’re trying to connect with. In order to do that, of course, you have to find them, by having a product that they want more than anything else on the market. Say, for example, you roast and distribute incredible coffee. Like, really, really good coffee. But you use Colombian coffee beans and a very specific roasting technique which creates a very specific flavor that’s dark, rich, and exactly the way you think coffee should be.
Well, you’re not going to appeal to every coffee drinker. But that’s the point – you don’t HAVE to appeal to EVERY coffee drinker. Your value proposition is that you are giving the people who want to drink the same dark, rich, Colombian coffee that you sell, exactly what they want. And as you know, people will pay for the things they really want, and the things they really value.
A value proposition articulates so much information about what you’re trying to do. A huge component of a value proposition is identifying and communicating the exact specialization that you provide and that you can offer. You just need to identify which client is your client. The value proposition can really serve as the coordinates or the compass for the business itself, and the entrepreneur that’s driving that business.
Without an effective value proposition, you’re missing out. You’re not going to hit the targeted clients that you need in order to sell your products or services, and you’re not going to be able to charge as much for them, because you haven’t generated the amount of demand within that specific group of client. A poor value proposition means you’ve made your product too general, and you’re never going to make the real impact that you should.
Listen to Winston, friend. Stand up for your products. Find your target market, and get the results you deserve with a great value proposition.