when we use the word value we're usually
trying to describe something's worth
importance or usefulness to us
i
value your opinion that's nice that hat
seems like a great value for the price
cha chang he had nothing of value to say
and completely talked over the professor
the whole time rude and when it comes to
entrepreneurship value is everything
value is the core of any business and it
directs all future decisions innovations
and customers that get targeted even if
we've thought about the big picture if
we can't explain how an idea makes
someone's life better then why should
anyone pay attention so let's talk
strategies to answer the two fundamental
questions at the core of any business
model what value do i deliver and who
are my customers i'm anna akana and this
is crash course business
entrepreneurship
[Music]
sometimes business jargon can seem
confusing but here's the trick the words
usually have pretty literal meanings
since value means worth a value
proposition is the worth that you offer
to your customers
typically a value proposition is a
sentence or paragraph that clearly
articulates what your service business
or organization does who it brings value
to and why it's valuable for those
people it should be clear why someone
should choose your company over the
competition value can be something
tangible like offering products at a
lower price or higher quality or
something more abstract like better
customer service for example slack is a
messaging app designed to reduce email
and streamline team communication or in
their words make work life simpler more
pleasant and more productive flax states
the value for the customer right up
front with their value proposition be
more productive at work with less effort
without thinking about value we risk
developing something that customers
don't need or want cheetos lip balm
anyone no takers are you sure all right
and don't get me wrong creating a value
proposition can seem daunting we have to
be confident in ourselves and the work
that we've done to develop our ideas so
what are you worth
excuse me what are you worth like what's
your value why should people care about
you and your work
uh
i guess i
tell stories with my art that help
people find meaning and feel less alone
but
also how do you even judge the value of
a movie or a song or a youtube video or
any art you know
when we write a value proposition we
have to think about two main things
first the experiences of our customers
and second the capabilities of our
product or service if we've got those
down it'll basically write itself to
make sure we're covering our bases we
can use the value proposition canvas
created by a company called strategizer
half of the work is understanding
customers gotta catch them all and to do
that there are three main questions to
ask number one what are their jobs and
this is a little confusing because i
don't mean like their literal jobs more
like what do they do at work and in
everyday life and what problems do they
have number two what pains do they
experience like risks obstacles or bad
outcomes and number three what positive
gains are they looking for and receiving
everyone is trying to maximize gains and
minimize pains or at least strike a
healthy balance
so we entrepreneurs can try to tip the
scales towards gains after considering
the customer experience we can turn the
spotlight onto our potential business
with three response questions number one
what products and services are we
offering customers to help them complete
jobs number two is what we're offering a
pain reliever that cuts out risks
obstacles and bad outcomes and number
three better yet is what we're offering
a gain creator together customers and
products help us define our value so
let's get down to the nitty gritty
details of writing a value proposition
shall we in order to figure out the jobs
pains and gains of our customers we have
to find them and get nosy about their
lives but i mean try to keep it
professional this is entrepreneurship
leave your facebook stocking skills out
of it some might call this research
finding your target market the people
most likely to buy from you there are
lots of ways to connect with potential
customers but industry favorites include
interviewing them one-on-one holding
focus groups or conducting surveys
either in person or through an online
service like surveymonkey remember the
goal is to learn from potential
customers to turn your idea into a
top-notch solution to a problem whether
you're working on spill proof takeout
containers or more affordable child care
so sleuth out the who what where when
why and how of your target market who do
you think or know is experiencing the
problem how old are they do they have a
family or do they speak different
languages are they a cat please say
they're a cat i understand them what are
they doing when they experience the
problem are they working at a desk job
crafting something or exercising maybe
they're hiding under a blanket away from
the world and their problems until they
crumble into dust where are they
experiencing the problem are they at
work or at home on a plane a train an
automobile when are they experiencing
the problem is there a time of day week
or year is it a seasonal problem maybe
it changes with the phase of the moon
and the flow of the tides i mean we
cannot help it when mercury is in
retrograde take it from a leo why are
they experiencing the problem why are
others not experiencing the problem and
like why me why is it always me and
finally how are different people
experiencing the problem differently how
are they learning to cope with the
problem or develop their own solutions i
mean ignoring the problem is an option
but that's not always the best way to
cope
says my therapist all these questions
paint a picture of who we're dealing
with and give us a peek at their jobs
and when we're dealing with value
propositions customer jobs can be
functional social or emotional
functional jobs are what we
traditionally recognize as work that
pays the bills a big mistake when
writing a value proposition is only
focusing on the functional jobs of our
customers but customers feel social
obligations to look good or support
their community and emotional jobs are
all the work we put in to grow as humans
the ultimate goal of understanding
customer jobs is to get in their heads
what they do illuminates what they value
or what they'd like to value
entrepreneurs want to change the status
quo so if we know what customers value
we can figure out how to get them what
they want in a new or better format
remember the point of the value
proposition why should people choose you
over everyone else disruption is one
strategy to give customers value and
it's a hot business vocab word instead
of challenging existing markets and
trying to make our ideas stand out in a
field of others why not create a new
market often called a blue ocean so our
idea is like a seed sprouting a whole
new garden here we're not talking about
value that comes from lower prices or
faster delivery we're talking about
letting customers achieve the same jobs
in a totally new format like once upon a
time radio was the cream of the crop for
media in everyone's home radio listeners
had two needs one to be entertained and
two to stay informed and radio met those
needs by broadcasting different programs
from music to dramatic theater to news
then along came television a new
disruptive media format that entertained
and informed people because tv achieved
similar customer needs in a fresh way tv
entrepreneurs didn't have to compete
within the world of radio they built
their own world created new value and
maybe even found new customers who
weren't interested in radio at all of
course we know jobs don't come without
pains we're all human the struggle is
real so when we think about our
customers we need to consider what risks
or annoyances are getting in their way
if we can address those pains that means
we'll create better business with more
value if a customer's job is applying to
college some pains could be the clunky
admissions website from 2002 application
fees and tuition costs a lack of family
support or the trade-off between working
to earn money and shelling out money for
another degree and customers wouldn't do
jobs at all without gains which tells us
what they need or want to experience
before or after a job sticking with that
college application example the gains
might be
better career prospects a higher salary
after graduation exposure to new
thoughts and ideas a fresh start or new
friends now that we've researched our
potential customers we've filled out
half of our value proposition canvas or
you can sort all that knowledge with one
of those conspiracy investigation walls
with pushpins and multiple colors of
string and newspaper clippings you do
you i mean it's your value proposition
using all this info we can prune our big
entrepreneurial idea to make sure that
our products and services are truly
alleviating pains creating gains and
adding value to people's lives once
we've done this our value proposition
will be flourishing to see how let's go
to the thought bubble stitch fix is a
personal styling service that sends
clothes and accessories to people it has
customers all across the u.s and soon
across the uk those customers have many
jobs to do but an obvious one is shop
for clothes let's think of stitch fix
customers as busy technology savvy
people ages 25 to 50 living in the u.s
of all genders and working across all
fields and they've been willing to
consistently spend some money on fashion
they might be pained by lots of things
like no time as they try to juggle work
and family a limited budget living far
from clothing stores or having no idea
what their body type is pear apple
pineapple i don't know after exploring
their target market stitch fix offers
pain relievers like a mobile app for
convenience different packages for
different budgets doorstep delivery an
easy return system and personally styled
wardrobes for different body types now
these customers might shop for clothes
because they want gains of looking good
and feeling confident in and out of the
workplace so stitch fix wants to deliver
that gain but they also create new gains
using technology like their surveys for
measurements and preferences algorithms
and personal stylists to help their
customers feel good about the clothes
they get and save time by not wandering
around a mall combining all this
information stitch fix came up with the
elegant value proposition
we save our clients time by doing the
shopping if we were to get a little more
detailed for them we might say stitch
fix leverages technology to save working
clients time by using personalized
measurements preferences and stylists to
shop for clothes which are delivered
straight to their door thanks thot
bubble
after all this thinking and research our
value proposition is done so so when
you're asked what are you worth squish
down the panic because you've put in the
work and you can show them what you've
got so
what are you worth my audience values
entertainment and authentic connection
so i use writing acting motion graphics
and music to tell stories that make
people feel less alone and highlight the
complexities of the human experience
today we learned about value and how
customer driven thinking can help us
show off what our business has to offer
by understanding customer jobs pains and
gains we can make sure our products and
services alleviate pains or create gains
and then boom we have a value
proposition a statement basically saying
why we're better than everybody else
next time we'll target the competition
we'll not target them like in target
practice but we will talk about how to
figure out who you're competing with in
this entrepreneurship arena and what can
be learned from observing them thank you
for watching crash course business
sponsored by google and thank you to
thought cafe for the graphics if you
want to help keep crash course free for
everybody forever you can join our
community on patreon and if you want to
learn more about how to collect data to
understand people check out this crash
course sociology video about research
methods