From Fastcompany · · 1m 30s
Give your products an annual review
Solopreneurs keep adding new offerings but rarely remove old ones, creating maintenance burden and wasted spending.
In brief
Solopreneurs keep adding new offerings but rarely remove old ones, creating maintenance burden and wasted spending. Solo business owners should conduct annual reviews of their products and services, removing underperforming offers instead of endlessly adding new ones. Originally reported by Fastcompany.
Product teams review constantly
Software product managers regularly assess what customers want, what changes to make, and whether to retire products that no longer serve their purpose.
Solopreneurs rarely subtract
Most solo business owners keep pushing the same products or services and tack on new items until they maintain a large suite of offers. They rarely take anything away.
Annual review habit
Anna Burgess Yang, author of Work Better newsletter, conducts an annual review to ensure everything she puts out for her business still makes sense for both her and her customers.
Adding feels good
Launching something new is joyful for solo business owners because they make all decisions about what an offer looks like and how to launch it.
Removing feels like loss
Removing an offer is less fun and can feel like a loss. Website, slide decks, and email sequences need updating when an offer is retired.
Every offer needs upkeep
Content gets out of date. Solopreneurs may also pay for tools related to hosting or delivering an offer that is not generating value.
The trap of adding
Adding without subtracting creates a trap where solopreneurs accumulate offerings they must maintain, paying for tools and updating materials for underperforming products.
“Adding without subtracting is a trap.”
The main idea
Solo business owners should conduct annual reviews of their products and services, removing underperforming offers instead of endlessly adding new ones.
