In Part I, we identified the problem you’re solving. Today, we’re defining your first actual product — the thing you’re going to test in the market.
Not a business plan. Not a five-year roadmap. Your first real offer.
And here’s the key: you want something specific enough to sell, simple enough to deliver quickly, and focused enough that you can tell if it’s working.
The Problem with Most First Products
Here’s what usually happens when someone decides to start a business.
They have an idea. They get excited. They spend months building a website, designing a logo, creating content, setting up systems, maybe even building an entire course or program.
Then they launch. And nobody buys.
Why? Because they built the whole thing before testing whether anyone actually wanted it.
Or they go the opposite direction. They say “I can help with anything” because they don’t want to limit their market. Personal training, nutrition coaching, life coaching, business consulting — whatever you need, they’ll do it.
And nobody buys from them either. Because “I can help with anything” doesn’t solve a specific problem for a specific person.
The solution is to define a minimum viable offer. Something you can describe in one sentence, deliver in a defined timeframe, and sell to a specific person who has the problem you identified.
Not your forever product. Your first product. The thing you’re going to use to test whether people will pay you to solve this problem.
The First Product Exercise
This is a five-step exercise. Download the worksheet (link below) or grab a piece of paper.
Step 1: Write Your Transformation Statement
Fill in the blanks:
“I help __________ go from __________ to __________.” (specific person) (current painful state) (desired outcome)
This forces you to be specific.
Not: “I help people get fit.”
Yes: “I help desk workers in their 40s go from chronic back pain and low energy to moving pain-free and feeling 10 years younger.”
Specific person. Current painful state. Desired outcome.
Step 2: Define Your Constraint
What’s the smallest commitment you can ask for that still delivers a meaningful result?
You need two constraints:
Time constraint: How long will this take? 7 days? 30 days? 90 days?
Don’t say “ongoing.” You’re selling a defined outcome in a defined timeframe.
Scope constraint: What’s the ONE specific outcome you’re promising?
Example: “In 30 days, I’ll help you eliminate morning back pain.”
Not: “I’ll transform your entire fitness and wellness routine forever.”
Keep it tight. One outcome. One timeframe.
Step 3: Choose Your Delivery Format
How are you actually going to deliver this? Pick ONE:
Done-for-you service: You do the work for them. They pay you, you deliver the result.
Done-with-you coaching: You guide them, they do the work. You provide the plan, the feedback, the accountability.
DIY course/program: They do the work with your blueprint. You build it once, they follow it.
The format should match how people are already trying to solve this problem and failing. If they’ve tried DIY solutions and failed, they need done-with-you. If they don’t have time to do the work themselves, they need done-for-you.
You can change it later. Just pick the format that makes sense for the problem you’re solving.
Step 4: Name It and Price It
Give your product a name that describes the outcome, not the process.
Bad: “30-Day Back Pain Protocol”
Good: “Pain-Free Mornings in 30 Days”
The name should tell them what they get, not how you do it.
Now price it.
Guideline: Price it high enough to qualify serious buyers, low enough to validate demand.
- Done-for-you: $500-$2,000 for 30-90 days
- Done-with-you: $200-$1,000
- DIY: $50-$300
These aren’t rules. They’re starting points. Pick a number that reflects the value of the transformation you’re offering, then test it.
Step 5: Write the Before/After Promise
What does someone have, feel, or know BEFORE they buy from you?
What will they have, feel, or know AFTER they complete your offer?
Before: “You wake up stiff and sore every morning. You avoid activities you used to love because you’re afraid of hurting yourself. You feel older than you are.”
After: “You wake up pain-free and energized. You move confidently through your day without thinking about your back. You feel strong and capable again.”
This becomes your sales copy. But more importantly, it defines what you must deliver.
If you can’t write a clear before/after, you don’t have a clear offer yet. Go back to Step 1.
Why This Matters
Most people never get to this step. They stay stuck in the idea phase, or they try to sell something vague and generic, and then they wonder why no one buys.
But if you’ve completed this exercise, you now have something concrete. You have a specific offer you can test with real people.
You’re not building a business yet. You’re testing a hypothesis: “Will people pay me to solve this problem in this way?”
Your first product will probably change. That’s fine. The problem you solve stays constant. The way you solve it evolves.
But you can’t evolve if you never start. And you can’t start without defining what you’re actually selling.
This exercise gives you that. A minimum viable offer. Specific enough to sell. Simple enough to deliver. Focused enough to know if it’s working.
What’s Next
Now that you know what you’re selling, the next question is: where do you sell it?
You need a platform. A place to collect email addresses, build an audience, and start conversations with the people who have the problem you solve.
In Part III, we’ll walk through setting up the infrastructure: a simple website, a Facebook page, a group, and the other “collectors” you need before you start marketing.
Your assignment:
Download the First Product Exercise worksheet and complete all five steps.
By the end, you should have:
- A transformation statement
- A time and scope constraint
- A delivery format
- A name and a price
- A clear before/after promise
Do this before Part III. Everything we build next depends on knowing what you’re selling.
Download the worksheet:
Chris Cooper is the founder of BusinessIsGood and the former founder of Two-Brain Business, the global gym mentorship company. He’s the author of six books on entrepreneurship and lives in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
