Know your own value, or someone will tell you you're worth less

The hardest thing in business is finding customers. The second hardest thing is encouraging them to buy and then come back and buy again. You want them to recognise the value you can provide, whether you are selling products or services. Being adept at articulating your value proposition is a real skill. A very clever man named Dr Alexander Osterwalder came up with a tool to help called the “Value Proposition Canvas”. It’s formed around 2 pieces of the puzzle: Them and Us.

1. Them - The customer profile

• Jobs - What are their problems and needs or what are they trying to achieve?

• Pains - What are their pains in getting these jobs sorted?

• Gains - What would help to make them smile or be excited?

2. Us – The Value Proposition

• Goods/Services - What product or service can we offer to create gain and relieve pain

• Relieve pain - Describe exactly how the product will relieve pain

• Add value - Describe how the product adds value for the customer

In bookkeeping, you would think this is pretty easy. Potential clients often come to us with a box full of receipts and unlodged BAS returns. They are under a time crunch and have no capacity to complete all they have to do and are stressing about the consequences. If they could just find someone to take away their pain, they’d sleep better and have more time to spend with their families. Enter the bookkeeping fairies, JOG Consulting, from Stage Right.

We offer to take the problem off their hands and, using scanners and data automation apps, we make that box of yucky receipts disappear with a wave of our magic wands. All the data gets to where it’s supposed to be and we appease the ATO by lodging whatever is missing. Voila; the village is safe, the client can sleep and frolic with their family. It seems like a no brainer. But, at times, even we have trouble conveying our value.

Despite the overwhelming evidence, many business owners still believe that they can do everything themselves. They may be specialist landscapers or concreters, but they also believe they are across all the aspects of financial practices and have time to focus on the detail required. And that’s OK when a business first starts and they are trying to break even. Things are simpler. Then, perhaps as they grow, they engage an unqualified family member to save money. It may be great but it may also be false economy. These business owners are usually the desperate ones we see 12 months down the track who don’t have enough hours in the day and are being hounded by the ATO. They didn’t see the value in our services before but now they do. If only they had let us loose with our wands earlier, we could have saved them some pain. 

So, if you think you could do with little magic dust in your business, we would be delighted to chat to you about our value proposition.