Another in our short series of posts about building a “life-friendly” business today.

Last time we talked about getting leverage through people – essentially building a team that runs your business for you. Before that we covered charging rockstar level fees as the means of getting high leverage.

The third high-leverage model is leverage through products.

In this model you create products which are then sold and don't require your time to deliver – hence the leverage.

Those products could be online courses, they could be books, they could be apps or other software.

The point is that most of your effort goes into the creation of the product which can then be sold many times without you needing to be involved personally. At least not anywhere near as much as with in-person services.

This is my own preferred model for getting leverage and freeing up my time so I'm rather biased towards it. I'm going to tell you a bit about why it can be a great model for solo professionals. But I'm also going to share the downsides too, because it's not perfect for everyone.

Firstly the upsides.

Creating courses has a bigger potential upside than (say) charging high fees. Your fees can only get so high before they max out the value you're delivering, or someone good starts offering something similar for less.

But the market for most products in terms of the number of potential customers is much, much higher.

Secondly, they give you much greater control over your time. You can create products when you want. You're not tied down to fitting in with a client's schedule.

Thirdly, they create an asset which can be sold. If you want to sell your business but your only “product” is the time you sell to clients, it's almost impossible for someone else to replace you.

But if your product is online courses or apps or books, they can be sold long after you're gone. And future products can be created without you too.

Products are a great way of increasing the value you give (and the revenue you get) from face to face clients too. They give you an easy option to add in to proposals and projects that doesn't cost you any more, yet can be hugely beneficial to clients.

And finally, they let you help a lot more people. Only a small elite can benefit from working with you personally. A much larger number can be helped through your products.

But it's not all a bed of roses.

Products can be much riskier. Even if you're smart and pre-sell your products and build them as you deliver them; there's still an amount of upfront investment you have to make with an unknown return.

With face-to-face services you tend not to start work until you have a contract in place. Often you may be paid in advance.

With products you tend to invest in building them, then you try to sell enough of them to cover your costs and make a profit.

Bigger potential upside. But a different and more uncomfortable business model if you're not used to working that way.

It takes a different skillset and style of working too.

Many coaches thrive on being in the moment with their clients and reacting to what they say. Many professional speakers get a huge buzz from being on stage. Many consultants do their very best work in partnership with their clients.

Making products is much more about working on your own to plan, design and build your product. It's usually about working with pen and paper, video cameras and technology rather than people.

Personally, I enjoy the creative freedom I get. But I know many people who started creating products to get the wonderful benefits but ended up giving up because they hated the working style.

It can also be a lot more competitive too. A client choosing a consultant or trainer to work with in person has a limited choice of those they can physically meet with. When they're buying an online course or book they can literally choose anyone in the world.

And finally, there's a lot more emphasis on marketing. Products are typically sold to more people for less each whereas in-person services are sold to fewer people for more each.

That means you need to reach a lot more people with your marketing for products rather than building closer relationships with a small number of potential clients. Again, a different style of working.

So although the benefits of getting leverage through products can be great, it's not for everyone.

Whichever model of leverage you prefer, the key is to build your business around that model rather than bouncing between them or getting stuck in the middle.

A rockstar fee model needs a lot of work to establish yourself as an expert worthy of high fees. A people-leverage business needs you to invest your time in building a brilliant team. A product-based business means you need to invest in creating and marketing products.

It sounds obvious when you see it written down, but the reality is that most people don't think about where they're going to get their leverage from and which will work best for them and their skills.

So they end up flipping between different approaches depending on which silver bullet is flavour of the month.

Or they end up in the muddy middle ground of selling their time, but not at high fees. Of having some staff, but not excelling at hiring or managing them. Of creating a couple of products, but not selling enough of them to make it worthwhile.

Low leverage. Low returns. Low levels of free time.

Instead, be clear on how you're going to get leverage and make it happen.