Miniware just launched a new business model in December, and it's changed everything for us.
(This is the last in a series. Pt 1: https://lnkd.in/ezJKvRU2)
We're an organizational design firm. We also do management consulting. And product design and development. And brand strategy, service design, process improvement, and knowledge management consulting.
It can be tough to scope. So we stopped scoping.
Instead, all of our services are bundled under a single subscription, and only activated if your priorities dictate the need.
You can hand us your companies biggest puzzles and distractions, and we'll remove them one by one, so you and your team can focus more on your mission, less on everything else.
Since launching this, all of our conversations have improved.
We thought existing clients would be a tough sell, but they opted in without blinking. No agreement to negotiate means we can solve their problems sooner. Subscriptions are predictable + automated.
In short, we both get to put more focus and energy into doing what we do best, instead of administrating everything around it. Win/win.
On the sales side, conversations have suddenly gone more smoothly than I thought possible.
Instead of answering "what even is this?", I get asked:
➊ How many things can we really put on your team's radar?
A: As many as you want. We’ll do them one at a time, priority order, until you're very happy with the solution.
➋ How does pausing actually work?
A: We bill on a 30 day cycle, but pausing will "bank" any remaining days you've already paid for, for a rainy day. If you pause at day 14, we’ll stop working, and you’ll have 16 days before being billed whenever you start again.
Finally, Miniware has a way to help more companies work smarter, not harder.
I could write a whole other post (and probably will…) about the DNA of unlimited models, and why (while counterintuitive) they are probably the future of professional services.
But for now, let me end this series of posts (thanks for reading!) with the founder takeaways that 2023 has taught me:
➊ Being flexible and willing to pivot is crucial in business; even more so in a year like this, for tech. This new model was born out of necessity, but it was our ability to adapt and evolve through introspection that made it possible.
➋ The key to better serving our clients wasn't in adding more services, or niching down, but in simplifying how we offered them. Less complexity led to less confusion, more value delivered, and lower overhead.
➌ Genuine feedback, both verbal and through actions, was invaluable in enabling us to improve. They provided real-time insight into what worked, what didn't, and what could be a little better, every day.
I hope 2024 is a great year for you. I believe it will be for us!
—
Shoutouts to people who influenced, inspired, & supported me this past year:
Marnie
Da-Hea
Tem
Becker
Diar
Michael
Aaron
Victor
Ben
Barry
DJR:
Thank you for the invite Ammunition It was an insightful conversation. One insight, in particular, is great advice for any startup or company introducing a new product: "Your reason to exist can't be antithetical to something else, it has to be what you stand for, and why. What is the box that you will stand on when you are the goliath in the room?"-Sahand Dilmaghani Indeed, if you focus solely on surpassing a competitor, what happens when you win? Where do you go from there? In practice, this strategy often leads to a frustrating game of catch-up. Your competitor will keep evolving and changing, while your organization remains stuck reacting to their moves. Forge your own direction, driven by your vision.