Done For You sounds great, doesn't it. You pay a chunk of money, probably well into five figures, and for that hefty investment someone else sets up your entire business.
They probably choose the product for you. They certainly set up the funnel. Web pages. Copywriting. Buy buttons. Fulfillment.
And, of course, it's easiest if the product is a digital download or physical good. A thing someone else has made.
That way you don't have to do anything at all.
Done For You Is NOT Business In a Box
Done For You is different from Business In a Box...the biz in a box "opportunities" describe a demand for a specific product or service by a niche out there while leaving the selling to you. Done For You does the selling, too.
I am not saying "Never subcontract anything out." I sub out projects all the time. But they are things I shouldn't be doing...though I know how to do them. For example, I can create a header (the banner across the top of a website). I can do a decent job, and the initial version on a new website I'm putting together will likely be mine. But are there graphic artists available who are much more proficient at art programs, and have better design ideas, than I? Certainly! However, my point here is that I know how to do the job. I understand what I am subcontracting.
So there is a point of ridiculousness I'd like to illuminate here. For instance, maybe you don't know how to bake a birthday cake. So is Jason saying not to buy a Done For You birthday cake from the supermarket because you don't know how to make one yourself?
Let's all have a good giggle about that one.
Here's the dividing line: Do I depend on this?
That's the question to answer.
Do you depend on this?
Nobody depends on a birthday cake. Not to live. No one is going to suffer or die if a birthday cake is not present. Except perhaps the cake baker (Ah ha! Now we're getting to the core of the matter).
Do you depend on your business? As a vital source of income? Yes? Then don't you think you'd better know something about it?
The Underlying Problem of Done For You
People who jump at Done For You businesses reveal underlying problems about themselves. These include lack of commitment, lack of confidence, and possibly even a learned helplessness that nothing is ever going to get better if they have direct control of it.
At one point I set up an emergency donation page with a custom header, fresh copy, and donation button in about an hour. The recipient was amazed: he told me I was so talented and asked how I had been able to complete these tasks so quickly. I shook my head. This guy had been in the online marketing field for literally years longer than I had--twice as long, actually--and had not learned these essential basic skills.
What Does This Example Show You About Done For You?
With Done For You, you never learn how to create a profitable business.
You never learn how to choose a winning product or service.
You never learn how to set up an effective sales funnel.
You never learn how to sell.
You never develop any expertise or skill whatsoever.
You never learn how to do anything.
You stay helpless.
If you think that's okay, keep doing what you're doing. But don't shriek when the DFY (Done-For-You) biz dries up or fizzles in the first place, and you realize you don't have any skills...haven't learned anything...and are completely unable to make the next move on your own.
>> Jason Kanigan is a business development expert who believes in solid business fundamentals. Please Like, Share or Comment if you know someone who will find this discussion useful. If you're burning to develop skill and have a real business you have full control over--and it doesn't have to eat up all your time--call me. <<