From: alexhormozi
In the realm of business, beyond tangible products and direct services, “access” stands out as a distinct and highly valuable offering [01:57:48]. This category, often overlooked by many businesses, can be leveraged to generate significant revenue and enhance enterprise value [01:58:34], [04:53:23].
Categories of Business Offerings
Business offerings can broadly be categorized into three main types:
- Products: These are tangible or digital goods that customers receive, such as supplements (physical) [02:16:17] or a Netflix subscription (digital good, consuming media) [02:23:44].
- Services: These involve people performing actions for others [01:53:49]. Examples include a massage (physical service) [02:32:38] or the work of a marketing agency (digital service) [02:37:34].
- Access: This refers to providing entry or direct connection to a person, experience, or exclusive environment [01:59:17].
Types of Access
Access, like products and services, can be either physical or digital [02:10:48].
- Physical Access: This involves access to a physical location or event, such as concert tickets, which grants access to an experience [02:48:07].
- Digital Access: This provides entry to virtual events, or direct communication channels with individuals, like access via Slack [02:55:20].
The Value Proposition of Access
Access, particularly digital access, is highly favored due to its profitability:
- High Margins: Digital access boasts almost 100% margins [04:23:05]. Digital products also share this characteristic [04:27:49]. This contrasts sharply with services, which are difficult to scale due to the complexities of scaling people, culture, training, and onboarding [04:37:05], [04:43:20].
- Differentiation: Incorporating an access component into existing products or services can significantly add value and differentiate a business from competitors [03:13:58], [03:21:05]. The goal is to be so unique that a business operates as its own standalone entity, enabling “monopoly prices” [03:23:02], [03:30:26].
- Rapid Cash Flow Generation: Selling access, especially in an individualized, high-touch format, is one of the fastest ways to generate substantial cash flow for a business [01:37:11], [05:11:06], [06:32:04].
Leveraging Access in Offers
To create highly valuable offers using access:
- High-Touch, Individualized Solutions: Structure an offer around access to a solution that is individualized and high-touch [05:22:15]. This could be a one-on-one or small group experience for a defined period, aiming for a specific, guaranteed outcome [05:30:17]. The guarantee can promise continued work until the outcome is achieved [05:48:07].
- Upfront Payment: For such offers, require the entire period to be prepaid [06:08:08]. No discount is needed for this type of offer due to the significant value derived from the access and accompanying service/expertise [06:13:00], [06:16:11].
- Controlled Scarcity and Urgency: Implement implied urgency and scarcity by limiting the number of available slots [07:57:46]. This creates a high-ticket premium [08:00:54].
- Maintain Pent-Up Demand: Critically, do not sell out all available demand [06:40:48]. If 100 people could buy, only sell 20 [06:54:20]. The goal is to maintain the vast majority (around 80%) of demand as “pent-up” [06:57:05]. This ensures future offers will also sell out, allowing for continuous growth of the demand pool [07:01:04]. Selling out completely can liquidate all goodwill in an audience, forcing a business to constantly rebuild demand from scratch [07:17:09].
Access offers tend to attract the “best customers” who are less needy and often result in excellent testimonials and outcomes [08:03:07]. By strategically combining products, services, and especially access, businesses can significantly increase their value and profitability [04:54:33].