Many experienced businesses have a strange commercial problem. They know which projects create the best results. They know which customers bring out their best thinking. They would happily do more of that work.
But the market cannot see it.
The website presents a long list of capabilities. Referrals occasionally produce the ideal assignment. Most incoming requests are broader, smaller or less interesting. The business keeps accepting them because the work it truly wants has never become a clear proposition.
This is not solved by writing “we are passionate about” above the same service list. Ideal customers need to recognise that the work is meant for their situation, understand the valuable outcome and believe you can deliver it.
Start with evidence, not aspiration
Work you love is not automatically valuable. A commercially strong proposition needs five things:
- Energy: you want to do the work again.
- Customer value: the result matters enough to act and pay.
- Repeatability: you understand why the result happened.
- Commercial health: the work supports a healthy price, margin and delivery model.
- Proof: future customers can see evidence that reduces risk.
If one part is missing, you have a preference, experiment or good story. When all five are present, you may have an overlooked proposition.
Work you love × ideal customer value × repeatability × commercial health × proof. A zero in any category weakens the proposition.
Look at projects, not job titles
Ask everyone involved to select three past projects they would gladly repeat. For each project, answer:
- Who was the customer and what made them a strong fit?
- What was happening when they decided to act?
- Which part of the work created the most value?
- What changed in measurable or observable terms?
- What did the customer value that surprised you?
- What would need to be standardised before doing it again?
Patterns matter more than isolated enthusiasm. If your favourite projects share the same customer tension, decision or transformation, that is the beginning of a proposition.
Translate the work into a buying decision
A buyer does not need your complete methodology before deciding whether to talk. They need four forms of clarity.
For whom?
Name the situation, not just the industry. “Founders of proven but difficult-to-explain businesses” is more useful than “SMEs.”
Why now?
What makes the problem costly today? The company may be launching, seeking funding, entering a market, losing qualified demand or outgrowing its original story.
What valuable change?
Describe what becomes clearer, stronger, easier or more profitable. Avoid hiding behind the format you deliver.
Why believe you?
Connect the promise to specific proof: an outcome, quote, rebooking, conversion, placement, demonstration or credible partner.
The filmmaker did not need a broader menu
The Hero Filmmaker case started with a plan to find a €100.000 investor. The overlooked opportunity was not a new list of services. It was a clearer view of what clients already valued and how that value could become a stronger offer.
The result was 100% ownership and 10x collaboration ROI within nine months from day 0. The important shift was from selling production capacity to making his real value easier to see, show and buy.
Hero Filmmaker - Solopreneur: a clearer, higher-value proposition replaced the perceived need to give away ownership for investment.
Make the proposition visible in small steps
You do not need to rebuild the entire company before testing the idea.
- Write one page for one ideal customer situation.
- Lead with the valuable problem and change, not your biography.
- Add one case that makes the promise believable.
- Share it directly with five suitable people.
- Listen to the questions they ask and the words they repeat.
- Sell a carefully scoped first version before standardising delivery.
A proposition becomes clearer through contact with the market. Waiting for perfect language delays the evidence you need.
Do not turn loved work into a prison
Productising valuable work does not mean every customer receives the same process. It means the reason to buy, expected change and proof become understandable.
There can still be judgment, creativity and adaptation inside delivery. In fact, clearer boundaries often create more room for the work you are genuinely good at.
A useful question for Monday morning
If an ideal customer visited your website today, could they identify the work you most want to do within 30 seconds?
If not, the problem may not be a lack of demand. The market may simply be unable to see what you have never clearly offered.
Make your real value easier to buy
An Outside-In conversation identifies what ideal customers already value, where the proposition loses that value and which proof or offer deserves attention first.
Plan an Outside-In conversation