What’s Your Product Prevention Plan?
You probably don’t need another product idea.
In fact, there’s a pretty good chance your first — or next — product is already sitting right in front of you.
The problem?
You may also have a very effective plan for making sure it never sees the light of day. 😂
I call it your Product Prevention Plan.
And on this week’s Story & Strategy LIVE, we found three of them.
But we didn’t stop there.
We also found a ridiculously simple path for discovering the product you may already have.
Because...
Every challenge has a story.
Every story can be rewritten.
Every rewritten story creates a new future.
THE STORY
Product Prevention Plans rarely look like prevention.
They sound responsible.
They sound smart.
They may even sound productive.
Like...
“I need to learn a little more first.”
That’s the Preparation Plan.
More research.
Another course.
A little more time figuring out the technology.
Preparation is good.
Until you’re no longer preparing to create the product...
you’re preparing instead of creating the product.
Then there’s...
“Who am I to teach this?”
That’s the Permission Plan.
Someone else knows more.
Someone else has more experience.
Someone else has probably already created something like this.
So you wait for some imaginary person to walk into the room and announce:
“Congratulations! You are now officially qualified.”
You could be waiting a while. 😂
Your customer doesn’t need the world’s greatest authority.
They need someone who can help them take their next step.
And then there’s my old friend...
“It’s not quite ready yet.”
The Perfection Plan.
One more module.
One more edit.
One more video.
One more tweak.
And six months later...
you’re still improving a product nobody can buy.
Because perfectionism has a hidden benefit:
Keep working on it and nobody can reject it.
Pretty effective Product Prevention Plan, isn’t it?
THE STRATEGY
So what do we replace those three plans with?
Something much simpler.
I call it the:
PRODUCT PRODUCTION PATH
Instead of asking:
“What product should I create?”
Look for one of three things you may already have.
1. A PROBLEM
What problem do people keep asking you to help them solve?
Look through your emails.
Your DMs.
Your client conversations.
Your comments.
What question keeps showing up?
That question may be a product trying to get your attention.
Problem → Product
You don’t have to invent the demand.
Listen for the problem that’s already there.
2. A PROCESS
What do you already know how to do that you could turn into steps?
Sometimes we miss these because what we know feels obvious to us.
That can be dangerous.
Because what feels obvious to you may be incredibly valuable to someone who doesn’t know how to do it yet.
Ask yourself:
What do I know how to do that someone else would love to know how to do?
Then break it into steps.
Step one.
Step two.
Step three.
Congratulations.
You may have just discovered a product.
Process → Product
3. PROOF
What result have you already created for yourself or someone else?
Maybe you solved a problem in your own life.
Maybe you helped a client.
Maybe you’ve helped 100 people do it.
Look at the result and work backward.
How did you get there?
What did you do?
What did you learn?
What mistakes did you avoid?
What steps created the result?
Could you help somebody else follow that path?
Proof → Product
Here’s the difference I really want you to notice:
Your Product Prevention Plan asks:
“Am I ready?”
Your Product Production Path asks:
“What do I already have?”
Completely different question.
Completely different outcome.
WATCH THE REPLAY
This week’s Story & Strategy LIVE takes you through all three Product Prevention Plans...
Preparation.
Permission.
Perfection.
And all three Product Production Paths...
Problem.
Process.
Proof.
Watch the replay and, while you do, don’t just think about “someday.”
Look at what you already have.
Because your next product may not be something you need to invent.
It may be something you need to recognize.
WATCH THE REPLAY ABOVE
YOUR NEXT CHAPTER
Here’s your challenge for this week.
And please...
do NOT build the whole product. 😂
No website.
No funnel.
No 37 videos.
And please don’t spend your weekend choosing fonts or creating the matching lunchbox..
Take out a piece of paper and write three words:
PROBLEM
What problems do people already ask you to solve?
PROCESS
What do you already know how to do?
PROOF
What results have you already created for yourself or someone else?
Now look at your answers.
Circle the one that makes you think:
“You know what? There’s something there.”
That’s enough.
Because Version One doesn’t have to be perfect.
Version One only has to exist.
WANT TO BUILD YOUR FIRST — OR NEXT — PRODUCT WITH ME?
The response to this topic has been so strong that I decided to do something with it.
We’re going to turn what I taught on the show into a live 90-minute workshop.
Bring your idea.
Your niche.
Your existing content.
Or even just that little voice saying:
“I think there might be a product here...”
Together, we’ll:
identify the Product Prevention Plan getting in your way
rewrite the story underneath it
find your best Product Production Path
uncover the product hiding in what you already know, do, or have created
map out your first — or next — product
And you’ll leave with an outline for moving forward.
BE OUR NEXT GUEST
Got a challenge in your business or life that you’d like us to flip live?
Bring it.
We’ll find the story underneath it, question it, rewrite it and create the strategy for what comes next.
You could be our next guest on Story & Strategy LIVE.
COMING UP NEXT WEEK
This week we looked at a story that can keep your product trapped inside your head.
Next week we’re going after one that can keep you trapped for years:
The Story Behind “I’m Not Enough”
Where does that story come from?
Why does it hang around so long?
And most importantly...
What happens when you stop treating it like a fact?
That’s next week on Story & Strategy LIVE.
Until then, remember:
Every challenge has a story.
Every story can be rewritten.
Every rewritten story creates a new future.
Go use this stuff.
Because it flat out works.
~ Jeff
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