In that situation, the best place to start is usually by doing some market research. The more you learn about your customer base and your position in the market, the easier it is to figure out what roles your business should be fulfilling.
For example, say you provide accounting services. If it turns out that most of your clients are individuals and small companies that don’t know a lot about finance, it may make sense to start offering training services or to help customers with financial planning.
Gaining insight into your customers isn’t easy, but that’s exactly why market research companies like Kadence International exist. Market research can also be used to help you learn more about your competitors and the industry at large, which can be very useful when you’re trying to launch a new product or service.
Speaking of competitors, it’s also a good idea to take a look at what they’re doing. What services do they offer that you don’t? Check your competitor’s reviews and testimonials. Do those additional services often come up when clients talk about the company?
You don’t need to copy exactly what your competitors are doing. But figuring out how they differ from you can be a great way to figure out how to differentiate yourself further. And knowing what your competitors are doing is also a good way to avoid accidentally copying one of their ideas.
Another way to figure out what service to provide is to take stock of what resources you have available.
How much you prepare before launching a new service should be directly proportional to how costly it is to provide that service. If there are profitable services you can provide without making a significant investment in terms of material or personnel, then you can skip some of the prep work and do a trial run instead. Just offer the service to a small segment of your customers and collect feedback from them to figure out whether or not said service is a good idea.
