Why Offering Too Many Services Could Be Hurting Your Business
Heads up: We use affiliate links for our favorite products, softwares and companies. If you click and purchase, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Let me start with a quick story. I absolutely love cooking. Seriously, you’ll often find me watching Master Chef after a long workday, snuggled up with my pup Harley under the coziest blanket. And when it comes to Thanksgiving, I’m all in for getting together with the fam. But, have you ever noticed that at these big family meals, there are always a few dishes on the table that no one really touches? For me, it’s the sweet potato mash. Don’t get me wrong—it’s a classic, but I always wonder why we go through the trouble of making something that doesn’t get eaten!
This got me thinking about how we approach the services we offer in our businesses. Much like those Thanksgiving dishes that barely get touched, many business owners hold onto services that don’t add much value.
When you first launch a business, it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of offering a variety of services. The logic is simple: more services should mean more clients, which should mean more revenue, right? It doesn’t always work like that and many business owners learn the hard way that offering too many services can actually harm your business more than help it.
In this week’s blog, we cover:
The risks of offering too many services and how it can stretch your resources thin.
How to identify which services are truly profitable by analyzing costs, team time, and revenue.
The benefits of focusing on your most valuable services to streamline operations and boost profitability.
The Excitement of Starting Out
When you first start your business, it’s like being in a candy store. The excitement of launching new offers, creating systems, and seeing what works is exhilarating. It’s a necessary part of the process to figure out what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t. But as you grow, you might find yourself with a dozen different services, all pulling you in different directions. Can you relate?
It’s totally normal to feel this way. We’ve all been there, and in the beginning, it’s natural to cast a wide net. But over time, offering too many services can spread you too thin. Your team might struggle to stay updated on best practices across multiple areas, and the more services you offer, the more complex your business operations become. On top of all that, offering too many services could confuse your audience too.
The Hidden Costs of Offering Too Many Services
Let’s dig into the nitty-gritty. One of the biggest challenges of offering multiple services is keeping track of the profitability of each one. For instance, say you offer a service like social media management that brings in $5k per month. On the surface, that sounds fantastic, right? But when you break down the costs—paying your team member $50 an hour for 10 hours a month, plus taxes and related expenses—you might find that this service is barely breaking even, or worse, losing you money.
This is a cycle we see so many business owners fall into because no one is really talking about it. You might think that just because a service is popular or has always been part of your business, it should stay. But just like that sweet potato mash, if it’s not serving its purpose, it might be time to take it off the table. The thing is, you have to have the data and understand it to give you this information and decide what should stay on the table and what might be better to let go of.
Streamlining Your Offers
Here’s where it gets interesting. One of the things we love doing for our clients is diving into their financial data to see which offers are actually making money and which ones aren’t. Truly understanding your profitability is one of the most empowering things as a CEO and if you are scaling, this is a MUST. More often than not, the results are surprising. Some services that seem successful might be draining resources or not pulling their weight financially and you might be surprised by which of your services is actually the most profitable.
That’s where we come in. We help you comb through your financials to get a clear picture of where your money is going and which services are truly profitable. It’s about making informed decisions that not only streamline your offerings but also maximize the profitability and scalability of the business.
The Bottom Line
Just because you’ve been doing something for years doesn’t mean you need to keep doing it. Businesses evolve, and it’s okay to let go of services that no longer serve you. Think of it like this: what’s the “sweet potato mash” of your business offerings? The dish that’s always there but never really needed? By reassessing your services and focusing on what truly adds value to your business, you can free up your time, reduce complexity, and improve your bottom line.
If you’re ready to take a closer look at your services and see how we can help you streamline your business, know that we’re here to help you identify what’s working, what’s not, and how to make your business more profitable so you can keep chasing your goals and scaling to new heights. Book a free consultation with us here, and let’s figure out the “sweet potato mash” of your business together.
Related Posts
