Entrepreneurship: Understanding Products and Services

**ENTREPRENEURSHIP** **Lesson II: The Possible Product/s or Service/s That Will Meet the Need** To succeed as an entrepreneur, you must develop the ability to select and offer the right products or services to your customers in a competitive market. Ultimately, the need is the driver of every entr...

**ENTREPRENEURSHIP** **Lesson II: The Possible Product/s or Service/s That Will Meet the Need** To succeed as an entrepreneur, you must develop the ability to select and offer the right products or services to your customers in a competitive market. Ultimately, the need is the driver of every entrepreneur. Business operators often look at the customer need as an opportunity to resolve or contribute to the need which is providing a right product and services. More than any other factor, your ability to make this choice will determine your success or failure (Tracy, B., 2015). There are thousands of products and services available to consumers today. However, there are unlimited opportunities for you to enter the marketplace and compete effectively with a new product or service that\'s better in some way than what\'s already being offered by your competitors. Remember, your skill in choosing that product or service is critical to your success. A **product** can be defined as anything that we can offer to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that could satisfy a need or want. However, the definition of product does not only involve tangible goods such as a car, a fridge or a phone. The definition is extended to include intangible objects as well, because they can be offered to a market. Therefore, the WHAT IS IT - 5 - broad definition of product includes services, events, persons, places, organizations, or even ideas. **Services** are special form of product which consists of activities, benefits or satisfactions offered for sale that are intangible and do not result in the ownership of anything. A service can thus include banking, airline travel, communication services, hotel services and so on. A **product** is a tangible item that is put on the market for acquisition, attention, or consumption, while a **service** is an intangible item, which arises from the output of one or more individuals. **Difference Between Product and Service** 1. Tangible vs. Intangible 2. Production vs. Interaction 3. Perishable vs. Imperishable **Why "Identifying Customer Needs" matter?** 1\. Correctly identifying customers' needs is essential for ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty. 2\. Customers have unique needs. 3\. Often, customers either aren't clear about what they need, or they don't really know what they want. 4\. Identifying clients' needs creates satisfied customers, and satisfied customers are less likely to have reason to enter disputes with the organization or contemplate legal action. **Key Points** 1\. To ensure customer satisfaction, entrepreneurs must correctly identify customers' needs. 2\. To identify needs, entrepreneurs must both listen and ask the right questions. 3\. After identifying needs, always check for additional or related needs. 4\. As an entrepreneur, use your knowledge and experience to identify and present the right products, services, and solutions to meet your customers' needs. **Lesson III: Importance of Marketing Mix in the Development of Marketing Strategy** **Marketing Mix** The marketing mix is a key foundation on which most modern marketing strategies and business activities are based. The concept of the 'Marketing Mix' came about in the 1960s when [Neil H. Borden](http://www.guillaumenicaise.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Borden-1984_The-concept-of-marketing-mix.pdf), professor and academic, elaborated on [James Culliton's concept](http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.656.1894&rep=rep1&type=pdf) of the marketing mix. Culliton described business executives as 'mixers of ingredients': the ingredients being different marketing concepts, aspects, and procedures.  However, it's now widely accepted that [Jerome McCarthy](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5714/9cdfa13b60edacdef6e09a08ac98cc3fc5b9.pdf) founded the concept. After all, it was McCarthy who offered the marketing mix as we know it today; in the form of 'The 4Ps of Marketing': Product, Place, Price, & Promotion. The 4Ps then paved the way for two modern academics, [Booms and Bitner](https://www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/mary-jo-bitner/), who, in 1981, brought us the extended version of the marketing mix: the '7Ps'. [The 7Ps](https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/marketing-theories---the-marketing-mix---from-4-p-s-to-7-p-s) comprise McCarthy's 4 original elements, and extend to include a further 3 factors: Physical Evidence, People, & Processes.  **Product.** The 7Ps begins with 'product'. This could refer to a physical product, a service or an experience. Basically\... anything that's being sold.  Place. It signifies *where* you choose to distribute or allow access to your product or service. It could refer to anything from a warehouse or a high-street store to an e-commerce shop or cloud-based platform. **Price.** The price you set should reflect your customer's perceived value of your product and should correlate with your budget. If your customer thinks your price is too high, you jeopardize losing a market that's in it for a bargain, if your price is too low then you run the risk of losing that all-important profit. **Promotion.** It refers to your advertising, marketing, and sales techniques. This could mean traditional advertising, via TV, radio, billboards, etc., or more modern methods, like ads within web content, ads on a podcast, email marketing or push notifications. **Physical Evidence.** When we get down to the brass tacks, it's important for consumers to know that the brand they're purchasing from or interacting with, are legitimate and, well, exist in real life. That's where physical evidence comes in. Physical evidence often takes two forms: evidence that a service or purchase took place and proof or confirmation of the existence of your brand.  **People.** Those people who are involved in selling a product or service, designing it, managing teams, representing customers\... the list goes on. The 'people' element of the 7Ps involves anyone directly, or indirectly, involved in the business-side of the enterprise.  **Process.** The 7th ingredient in our marketing mix - 'process' describes a series of actions that are taken in delivering the product or service to the customer. Examining the process means assessing aspects such as the sales funnel, your payment systems, distribution procedures and managing customer relationships.  **Marketing strategy**- Is a long-term, forward-looking approach and an overall game plan of any organization or any business with the fundamental goal of achieving a sustainable competitive advantage by understanding the needs and want of customers. **Marketing-** refers to activities a company undertakes to promote the buying or selling of a product or service. Marketing includes advertising, selling, and delivering products to consumers or other businesses. **PRODUCT FEATURES and BENEFITS** - **Product Features-** something offered to the consumers to establish product distinction. It is being produced to introduce valued new features to create market superiority. Often addresses common problems experienced by users. - **Product Benefit-** something that is gained from the features obtained. These are the outcomes or results that users will (hopefully) experience by using your products/service. **A feature is what something *is*, and a benefit is what users can *do or accomplish* with it.** **Features always matter because they provide your customers with hints about how well your product/service will deliver its benefits.** **FEATURES** **BENEFITS** ---------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ 100% PVC waterproof factor Your feet can stay dry all the time Inner Teflon liner You will never get wet even if there is a leak Wool paddling Enjoy comfy, and cozy feet ***Adapted:*** ***Subject teacher***