Turn Your Process Into a Product

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What This Is

Productization means turning the thing you do repeatedly for clients into something automated, templated, or self-serve. Instead of selling your time to do X for each client, you build a tool that does X.

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Why Bother?

You make money while you sleep Tools sell 24/7. Services require you to show up. Your revenue stops being tied to your hours 10 clients or 100 clients - same effort from you. You can charge what it’s worth, not what your time costs A tool that saves clients $50K/year can cost$10K. Your 40 hours to build it don’t matter. You stop being a commodity “We do social media” - commodity. “We built a tool that schedules content based on your analytics” - differentiated.

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Finding What to Build

Look at your last 10 projects. What did you do the same way every time? Good candidates:

• Audits and assessments (checklist → automated diagnostic)
• Data analysis you repeat (spreadsheet → dashboard)
• Templates you customize (Figma file → generator)
• Training you deliver (PDF → interactive course)
• Reporting you compile (email → automated reports)

Bad candidates:

• Highly custom strategy work
• White-glove relationship management
• Creative concepting that changes every time
• Anything that requires deep client knowledge to execute

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The 4-Step Build Process

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1. Manual → Documented (Week 1-2)

Do the work manually for 2-3 clients but write down every single step:

• What questions do you ask?
• What decisions do you make and why?
• What formulas or frameworks do you use?
• What does the final deliverable look like?

Create a checklist. If someone else could follow it and get 80% of the way there, you’re ready for step 2.

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2. Templates → Tools (Week 3-6)

Turn your checklist into reusable assets:

• Spreadsheets with pre-built formulas
• Figma templates with component libraries
• Airtable bases with automation
• Notion databases with formulas
• Google Forms that feed into scripts

Test these with 2-3 friendly clients. Charge them 50% off to be guinea pigs. Fix what breaks.

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3. Self-Serve → Automated (Month 2-3)

Build actual software:

• Web app that does the calculations
• Chrome extension that pulls the data
• n8n workflow that runs the process
• GPT that answers the questions
• Dashboard that shows the metrics

Start simple. One feature that solves the core problem is better than 10 features that half-work.

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4. Refine → Scale (Month 4-6)

Watch how people actually use it:

• What features do they skip?
• Where do they get stuck?
• What do they ask for in support?
• What outcomes do they achieve?

Cut the stuff nobody uses. Double down on what works. Add pricing tiers based on real usage patterns, not what you think makes sense.

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Pricing This Thing

Bad pricing: Cost-plus (“I spent 100 hours at $150/hr =$15K”) Good pricing: Value-based (“This saves you 20 hours/month at $100/hr =$24K/year, so I’ll charge $8K/year”)

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Three models that work:

One-time: $2K-$15K upfront

• Works for: Tools with finite value (one-time audit, migration, setup)
• Downside: You need constant new customers

Subscription: $200-$2K/month

• Works for: Ongoing value (monitoring, reporting, optimization)
• Upside: Predictable revenue, scales nicely

Freemium: Free basic + $500-$5K/month premium

• Works for: When you need volume to learn what people want
• Downside: Need way more users to hit revenue targets

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What You’ll Actually Make

Realistic Year 1:

• 30-50 active users
• $5K-$15K monthly recurring revenue
• 2-3 major versions shipped
• Break-even or small profit

Realistic Year 2:

• 150-300 active users
• $25K-$60K monthly recurring revenue
• Clear market fit
• Actual profit that matters

Realistic Year 3:

• 500-1,000 active users
• $80K-$200K monthly recurring revenue
• Enough traction to raise prices or build more products

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Common Ways This Fails

“Field of Dreams” syndrome Building something nobody asked for because you think it’s cool. Talk to 10 potential users before writing a line of code. Scope creep to nowhere Adding features forever instead of shipping something simple. Ship in 6 weeks or don’t ship at all. Pricing too low Charging $49/month because other SaaS tools cost that. Your context is worth more. Charge what it saves people. Forgetting to market it Building a great tool then hoping people find it. You need a distribution plan from day one. Competing with yourself Making a product so good it replaces your services. Keep some complexity that requires your expertise.

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Build vs. Buy vs. Partner

Build it yourself:

• Total control, keeps IP in-house
• Requires technical skills you might not have
• Takes 3-5x longer than you think

Buy/white-label:

• Fast to market, proven solution
• Less differentiation, ongoing licensing costs
• Limited customization

Partner with a dev shop:

• Get expertise without hiring full-time
• Requires clear specs and project management
• Costs $10K-$50K+ depending on complexity

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Your First 90 Days

Days 1-14: Research

• Interview 10 clients about their biggest repetitive pain
• Map your current process for solving that pain
• Validate there’s budget for a solution

Days 15-30: Design

• Create detailed spec of what the tool does
• Sketch the user flow (screen by screen)
• Price out build options (DIY, no-code, custom dev)

Days 31-60: Build MVP

• Build the simplest version that works
• Test with 3-5 friendly users
• Fix critical bugs only

Days 61-90: Launch

• Offer to 20 prospects at 50% early-bird pricing
• Get 5-10 paying users
• Document what breaks and what delights

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When to Kill It

Not every product works. Kill it if:

• After 6 months, fewer than 10 people pay for it
• Customer acquisition cost is higher than lifetime value
• You dread working on it (life’s too short)
• Something else is working way better

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Examples That Actually Work

Audit tool: Agency does SEO audits manually for $2K/each. Builds automated audit tool that runs for$200. Sells 50/month instead of 10/month. Revenue up 5x. Template generator: Design agency customizes brand templates for $5K/client. Builds web app where clients input their brand and get templates. Charges$1K. Sells to 30 clients/month instead of 6. Monitoring dashboard: Marketing agency compiles monthly reports for $1K/month. Builds real-time dashboard that auto-updates. Charges$500/month. Retention goes from 60% to 90% because data is always fresh. Content calendar: Social agency plans content in shared spreadsheets. Builds visual planner with AI suggestions. Charges $300/month. Gets 100 users in year one.

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The Real Truth

Most agency productization attempts fail because:

1. You build something you’d use, not what clients need
2. You make it too complex trying to handle every edge case
3. You don’t market it because you’re used to doing client work

The ones that work start ugly, solve one painful problem really well, and iterate based on what paying customers actually do. You don’t need venture capital or a technical co-founder. You need a clear problem, a simple solution, and the discipline to ship something in 90 days.

Build Your First Product

Book Doug’s 2-week sprint ($6K) or 4-week sprint ($12K) to turn your process into a working tool. Fast turnaround, no fluff.