The next offer was already there

There is a point at which being very good at what you do starts to create a problem. More people want access to you, and there is only so much of you available.

The obvious response is to take on bigger clients, increase your prices or work more. Those might all be sensible decisions. But I’m interested in what else the business could do with the expertise it already has.

In one business I worked with, there were recorded courses and a substantial library of material. A great deal of work had already gone into creating it. What didn’t exist was a membership.

We looked at how smaller pieces of that material could work together as an ongoing offer. It was, in part, repackaging. But that makes it sound simpler than it is. You still have to decide what is useful, what belongs together and what someone is actually joining for. Having a lot of content doesn’t answer those questions.

I have seen similar opportunities in quite different fields. An interior designer might reach more people through a well-chosen product collaboration, rather than only through larger commissions. A specialist who works in people’s homes might be able to teach certain parts of their approach, even though other parts will always require individual attention.

None of this means everyone needs a course or a membership. Some businesses have more than enough offers already.

It means looking carefully at what people value in your work and asking whether the current business model is the only way to deliver it.

That can be difficult to see when you’re fully occupied doing the work itself. You’re thinking about the next client, the next deadline, the thing that needs your attention today. Developing something else can feel like an additional burden.

Sometimes it is. Sometimes, though, the starting point is already there. It just hasn’t been recognised as an offer yet.