I have a talented friend who paints gold dust on women’s shawls. These shawls can be worn as head wrappings or around the body. She will turn a regular and unremarkable shawl into a beautiful, customized piece that is perfect for ceremonies, parties, or temple gatherings.
Here is her process:
- One on one call with client to determine the sizing, design, and color of the shawl
- Go to thrifting for said shawl
- Paint it
- Ship it Now
Let’s say that in my friend’s case, a majority of her customers have a special trip coming up; they will go to see the sacred sites in Egypt.
So one customer asks for a scarab. Pretty soon, another customer asks for a pyramid. Then, in the same week, another customer asks for an Isis goddess. All Egypt themed. Pretty soon my friend realizes “Hey, all these ladies are going to take this trip. This is happening. People want the Egypt codes. Let’s give it to them! If these sophisticated women want it, then surely their peers will too! Let’s go full Egypt. Let’s go thrifting.”
She gets a chance to reverse engineer the whole process. Knowing people want Egypt, she can deliver Egypt, trusting that new customers will want the same. 27 So now, instead of wasting time, going one by one, asking each client what it is they want, she has come to understand her business enough that “Egypt is here to stay.”
And she can go to the thrift store one time, purchase extra shawls, as many as she could design in one week, and design them with the full trust that someone in her space would want them.
My friend knows that enough momentum, engagement, and value exists in this “Egypt ecosystem” such that she can pre-paint shawls and dresses (with scarabs, pyramids, the Isis goddess, etc.) knowing that a future customer will say:
“Make that one mine. I see a piece of myself in here. I’ll happily pay you for this lifestyle upgrade.”
“What’s your Egypt?” Said another way, “How would your top tier clients advance, if you chose to upgrade your offerings; how would they benefit from your advancement & mastery of said offering in such a way that you would make your mentors, best clients, and strongest allies proud of you, but not just proud for your success, but be advanced as a group by your audacious move into unknown territory.”
