Using Mike Machalowicz's pumpkin plan method for improving the MadeOn Hardlotion business to identify and cater to the unique offering rather than trying to be everything for everyone.
Starting out, there are the three concentric circles to find your "pumpkin," basically the sweet spot that you can specialize in. The three rings consist of Top Clients, Unique Offering, & Systems.
Top clients are the ones you love working with the most. They are most dedicated to your brand and buy from you religiously.Unique Offering is what you offer that is different from similar businesses. Something that you do better or are the only one offering.Systems is what you improve on once you identify your top clients and unique offerings. You build your systems to cater specifically to those first two circles, narrowing your area of expertise to do it better.
For Hardlotion, identifying the top clients is as easy as finding the principal customers that bring in the most revenue consistently. The tricky part is separating those top clients into two categories: those who are there for your unique offering and those who are there for your other products.
Hardlotion's Unique Offering is "Fixing dried and cracked skin with, few, all-natural ingredients that are good for you."
The third circle is yet to be defined as the focus is on finding the top clients.
Sorting out the highest paying clients that match the take-home revenue and unique offering take the top down to only a few (about 50%). I am weeding out those who mostly buy other products that Hardlotion sells, like soaps (a big area that brings in the money though not the unique offering.)
The plan is to eliminate all the weeds that distract from the one thing Hardlotion does best, fixing dry skin. Removing the weeds will allow the pumpkin (unique offering) to grow.
Hardlotion's unique offering products are:
Hardlotion bars, Beesilk Jr, Rash Cream, Natural & Peppermint Lip Balms, Shea Facial, Beecool, Tinted Lip Balms, Foot Rub, and Beesilk Sticks.
Hardlotion's 'weeds' that distract from the unique offering are:
Soap, Soap Pallets, Facial Washcloths, Hair Butter, Rash Sticks, scented Sticks, and scented Lip Balms.
The first step is to identify the actual top customers who primarily buy the unique offering.
Looking through the current top customers and their previous orders, there seems to be about half that fall into the 'ideal customers' category. They buy the unique offering with few or no discounts and rarely buy the sideline products.
Once I've identified several top clients, I will then interview them to find their frustrations in the skincare industry and their 'wishlist' of things they want improved on. Finding out the frustrations they are running into will help me better identify how I can serve my ideal client and attract more like them.
I would also ask for other vendors that serve them. Such as personal health companies. So that I can collaborate with them to bring better service to them.