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Building Your Product Suite: What Should You Sell?

person sitting on floor cross legged choosing colors and palettes for a design project
person sitting on floor cross legged choosing colors and palettes for a design project

One of the most common concerns we hear from new entrepreneurs is that they want to do it all—a podcast, a clothing line, a book deal, sponsorships, etc. If you’re struggling to narrow down your ideas, remember you don’t have to pick just one, but you do have to pick one to begin with. There’s a million paths to a profitable business, but they all start with taking the first step. In this guide we’ll cover the types of products and services you can sell, help you choose the best one to get started, and give you the tools to start bringing your offer to life.

Types of Offers

Services

The first type of offering your business can sell is a service. Instead of a physical or technology product, you provide a skill, labor, or expertise. This can look like:

1-on-1 Services

This offers the highest touch and personalization, making it suitable for high-priced services where clients receive direct, customized attention. It’s delivered either in-person or online via platforms like Zoom and supported through channels like Slack or email.

A good starting point for: service-based experts and practitioners like interior designers, personal trainers, chefs, copywriters, graphic designers, nutritionists, lawyers, personal assistants, etc.

Small Group Services

Like one-on-one, group services allows you to leverage your time by serving multiple clients at the same time. It maintains some level of personalization but caters to a small cohort, meaning more value for your time.

A good starting point if: you have a fully booked 1-on-1 business and can deliver your services in a group setting. For example, a chef that offers group cooking classes or a personal trainer who works with 3-4 clients at a time instead of just 1.

Digital Products

E-books

E-books are a way to guide more people through your process, share your skillset, and ultimately scale your business.

A good starting point if: you have a large community of people who are interested in learning more from you or working with you. Can also be a great “business card” to help current customers share your business with friends and family.

Templates

Plug-and-play templates are another way to serve more people in less time. For example, website templates, social media templates, travel itineraries, etc.

A good starting point if: you repeat the same process over and over again with many clients, or have created templates within your own workflows to help get work done faster.

Physical Products

The second category of offer types we’re going to cover is physical products.These are things that are intended to last a long time like cars and furniture, as well as CPG products that are meant to be used and replaced like skincare, drinks, and cleaning supplies.

Technology Products

One of the fastest growing industries on the market, technology products are generally software as a service (SAAS) like a customer relationship management system (CRM), an app, or a social media service.

Choosing the Right Offer Type

When you’re just starting out, choose an initial offer type that plays to your strengths. For example, if you’re great at teaching, group classes might be a good fit for you. Hate technology? Building an AI-powered chatbot may not be the best way to set yourself up for success.

Pros and Cons

This is a simplified comparison of the types of offers you can sell to give you a general idea of the pros and cons of each one. As a general rule, starting with a service is a great way to easily and quickly make revenue in your new business and help you get traction. Then, you can continue to add other types of offers as your business grows.

CostProfitabilityTime to MarketDifficulty
Services$LowFastestEasy
Digital Products$$HighFastMedium
Physical Products$$$MediumSlowerMedium
Technology Products$$$$HighestSlowestHigh

Product Suites

Most businesses sell more than one thing. In other words, they have a product suite.  This is a collection of related products or services, often offered as a bundle or package. This allows your business to cater to multiple problems and customer needs, add more value, and increase revenue through upselling and downselling. 

As you’re getting traction with your first offering, start thinking about additional ways you could service the same customer. A good product suite will