What customers want from all businesses

A satisfied customer shows her satisfaction.

If you plan to be successful in creating a service-based or product-based business, you have to consider the customer's experience in purchasing your product or service.  Here is a list of traits a customer looks for:

1. Low Price: Pricing ties in directly to public perception of a company and its products or services. For example, Apple offers higher costs products that are of high quality.  Because of the expected higher quality, people are willing to pay top dollar for an Apple product.  However, Apple may lose potential customers because of the products' higher costs.  On the opposite end, more people may buy Dell products than Apple products because of the lower costs.  The lower the costs, the more affordable a product line becomes and reaches more potential customers.  Apple has a different business strategy and focuses on a particular segment of the consumer base.  They prefer more affluent consumers than Dell.  Dell wants to be in everyone's home, thus they charge lower for their technology products. 
2. High Quality: This speaks for itself.
3. Top Customer Service: Although Apple is mainly known as a product-based business, they implement a strong customer service philosophy.  Therefore, their goods are known as facilitating goods.  A facilitating good is any physical entity accompanying a transaction that adds value.  The masterminds at Apple are always asking "How can we add value to our customers' lives?"  If you create a business that focuses on this single question, you will stand out in any industry.  Guaranteed.

What is better for solopreneurs? A product-business or service-business?

"If you are true to your authentic self, there is no competition."  -- Shayna Rattler, owner of Success Unlimited, LLC

My entrepreneurial goal is to create a business that allows me to be hands-off.  I want to work on the business, not in the business. To elaborate, when I owned and operated Wilson’s Chem-Dry of Bartlett, a carpet-cleaning franchise, I was working in a business.  I bought myself a full-time job disguised as a business opportunity.  Without any employees to delegate tasks to, I was responsible for marketing, accounting, customer service, carpet cleaning, equipment maintenance, etc.  I loved the autonomy; however, I quickly grew mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted.  That exhaustion led to a decrease in motivation, lack of business growth, and feelings of burnout.  Several months later, I was tossing business brochures in the trash.  So as I increase my focus on building my business acumen through graduate studies, business books, podcasts, and workshops, I am currently overwhelmed with several business ideas that focus on products, services, and mixtures of both.  

As a fan of business innovators Chris Guillebeau, Dan Miller, and Tim Ferris and their respective published works, I am leaning towards a product-business.  So, what does a product-business mean?  A product-business produces a tangible good like a cell phone, a laptop or a coffee maker.  When running a product-business, your business has minimal contact with clients.  Because you produce tangible goods, the quality of your business is easy to measure.  Additionally, a product-business relies on equipment-intense production.  

What specifically appeals to me about a product-business that you should consider in your own business pursuits?  As previously stated, I do not want to create a business that requires me to do all the work.  That is too draining for me at the age of 28.  Ideally, I could hire employees, but that requires me to manage those employees, train those employees, and pay those employees.  That is too much of a headache.  I desire a business that generates revenue without the need for employees.  A product-business is not labor intensive and does not require extensive contact with clients.  Perfect.  A business that is automated, runs smoothly, and systems-dependent not owner-dependent is a strategic business built for long-term success.  A strategic business must be properly designed to be able to function without an owner.

Thus, the ultimate business goal for any entrepreneur, specifically a solopreneur, is to design a highly profitable business that runs automatically while you manage it and worth a fortune when you sell it.  A service-based business that depends on you will not be worth much without you.  The probability that anyone would want to buy a service-based business dependent on ownership will not bring you wealth.  

A great example of a produce-business or product-based business is Dan Miller’s 48 Days website.  On this website, Dan has a valuable online store front that features books, compact discs, DVDs, personality profiles, workshops, and more for sale.  Thus, Dan earns profits while he sleeps, blogs, writes books, records his podcast, interacts with clients, etc.  That is a systems-based business that requires very little of the owner.  He has a system in place to sustain his business and to grow it.  Additionally, he has an affiliate program (that I am a part of) that brings in more traffic to his website and products.