Your Unit -------> Your Product ----- > Your Customer
The unit strategy is one of the scale strategies I use to sell my books.
Whenever I sell an international translation license, a unit is created. To date, I
have over ten license units producing and selling my books in foreign markets:
China, Korea, Italy, and more. On top of a license fee, I receive future royalties.
An example of a unit strategy in an
UNSCRIPTED
business comes from an
idea I posted in the idea depository. I suggested a heavy-duty crate rental
company. I uncovered the idea (a rental system) during one of my moves after I
borrowed a stack of boxes from my sister. The boxes made my move so much
simpler, and the landfill was saved from enduring another hundred cardboard
boxes. Afterward, I thought, “OMG, what a great idea,” and I posted specific
details about its potential.
Soon after, a Maryland entrepreneur liked the idea and bought it. (When an
entrepreneur likes an idea, it’s removed from the depository for a fee.) As a write
this, the entrepreneur has turned this little business into great potential. He’s
landed regular commercial clients, local media attention, and outside funding.
He’s garnered rave reviews from his customers. He’s been on CNBC on a pitch
show. And best of all, he’s having trouble meeting the demand and is often sold
out. Ahh, the problems of a productocracy! This business is now the seedling to
great enterprise if the entrepreneur can endure the growth. While the idea has a
weak scaling economy, directed under a unit model it becomes incredibly potent.
And some of the most potent brands in history start small in the same way but
explode when unitized through a chain/franchise strategy.
Who would have ever thought that some innocuous coffee shop in Seattle
would become the largest restaurant chain in the world? When Howard Schultz
bought into Starbucks many moons ago, he saw the dazzling pen that would
write the best seller—it was a chain strategy—a worldwide network of company-
owned stores. Likewise, Fred Deluca grew Subway to over 37,000 locations by
deploying a franchise strategy, but only after a chain strategy wasn’t meeting his
growth objectives.
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Lost within the herd mentality of those chasing a customer strategy in the
digital domain is a local treasure trove of productocracies just waiting to be
systemized and branded into a unit strategy.
A unit strategy is the fix to a poor
scaling economy in a customer strategy
.
Once the local productocracy achieves profits, you then intentionally iterate
it (cookie cutter) by adding distributorships, opening more locations via chains,
or selling locations via franchises. In essence, you have two products requiring
management: the unit and the product itself. This is how the world’s most
recognized brick-and-mortar locations become national brands. The point is:
don’t fear getting dirty in your local sandbox.
#3: Channel Strategy
The final scale method is a channel strategy where sales occur indirectly
through third-party distribution channels or retail outlets. Instead of selling
directly to the consumer (a customer strategy), your product is sold to a channel,
or a distribution center. With a channel strategy, your challenge isn’t selling to
your end user but selling wholesale to the decision-makers of the channel.
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