“Find your value niche.”

I’ve said this before,

People buy value and not products or services.

Value is worthiness.

= How much having or using something (object) would be worth to you (subject).

The estimation of it’s (the object’s) worth is always equivalent to something else that could in theory be traded in exchange for.

The essence of the value whilst definable by monetary esteem, could be appreciated either quantifiably, or qualifiably.

In other words, the value attached to a product or service might have a:

1. direct cost/price, or;
2. benefit (that cannot directly be translated into a specific monetary equivalent).

Here’s an example:

You’re in the market for a car:

Reason why?

Your children take the bus to go to school, but are getting bullied en-route every day.

It’s making them miserable, which makes you miserable.

You feel you’re losing control and letting them down. It’s adversely affecting your parenting and marriage.

Defining your business’ value proposition – a practical example

Now, the question most car dealers will ask is:

Que. 1 = “How much is ‘X’ willing to pay for a car?”

In my opinion…

…entirely the wrong question.

The question an understanding car dealer should ask is:

Que. 2 = “How much does ‘X’  really value delivering his children out of the hands of those bullies right now?”

Perfect approach.

The answer to this question is, “He’d give his own life if he had to, to save his children from harm. There’s simply no price too high to pay.”

However, faced with a problem of any sort, we are always presented with a mix of solutions.

Each has its pros & cons and price to pay.

(A decision is about the be birthed.)

Alternatives analysis

Weighing up the options to settle on the winning choice is a process that the pros of the business world call: “Alternatives analysis.”

A project management term for evaluating the benefit vs. cost of each potential solution to a problem.

Playing the alternatives off one another to arrive at a confident decision or way forward.

In the scenario above of transporting your children to and from school, the alternative solutions might look like this:

1. Buy a car
2. Order a taxi.
3. Get a lift with another family.

The benefit offered by each of the alternatives 1-3 would be to regain control over your children’s well-being whilst travelling between home and school.

Whilst conventional commercial wisdom is concerned, it might be predicted that the option with the cheapest monetary cost, wins.

Value perception

But would that necessarily line up with the value perception underlying the whole theme?

Let’s take a deeper look:

• Buy a car: cost = £19,000 new on hire purchase credit arrangement for £302 per month.
• Order a taxi: cost = £7 per journey 20 days per month = £140 per month.
• Get a lift with another family: cost = £0 (free).

…BUT…

• Buy a car: risk = LOW (failing to pay the credit arrangement, income comfortably covers the cost) / benefit = HIGH (lots of quality time talking in comfort on the way home + of course, no bullies)
• Order a taxi: risk = MEDIUM (unsupervised time with another adult every day, unavailable some days, so will need a backup) / benefit = MEDIUM (no bullies)
• Get a lift: risk = MEDIUM (what about days where schedules clash or mistakes happen?) / benefit = HIGH (no bullies)

Now, for a decision:

Weighing up the odds…you decide that the value of quality time and total control over the transport method is worth spending £19,000 on a new car.

The MOST monetarily expensive option by a country mile…

BUT(!)

…the least risky and clear winner by benefits.

There are just some things, money cannot buy.

How to find your poultry business value niche…

Taking this back to poultry farming, the key to long-term, profitable success is finding your winning value proposition and burrowing a niche for yourself.

Here are the steps:

1. Map out your poultry value chain.
2. Interview value chain participants in each category.
3. Develop typical and unique participant profiles.
4. Discover their problems.
5. Consider some solutions.
6. Estimate the value of solving their problems.
7. Run cost/benefit analysis on solutions.
8. Crystallise a value proposition to fill a profitable value gap.

Do This:

Identify 2-3 value gaps within your local/regional poultry value chain and write a proposal for each

Knowing where you:

(a) fit in, and;

(b) are likely to add the most value (and get the most traction)

…in your local or regional poultry economy, is the best start to the poultry business that you could wish for.

Next, all you need to do is write a business proposal for how you might set up to fill that niche.

Now, over to you…

Are you starting a niche poultry business?

Are you already trading and struggling to find a profitable niche?

Do you have a story of niching down and winning at poultry?

Either way, I’d be interested to hear from you.

Leave a comment below…or email me back.