Productizing Your Services: Building a "Menu" for Scalability
Stop treating every project like a unique snowflake. Learn how to turn your services into standard products that are easier to sell and deliver.
Introduction
Imagine if a restaurant chef came out to your table and asked, "So, what ingredients do you have in mind today? How should I cook them? How much should I charge you?"
It would be a disaster.
Restaurants work because they have a Menu.
- The chef knows how to cook it perfectly every time.
- The ingredients are pre-sourced.
- The price is fixed.
Freelancers often run "custom kitchens." Every project is a new invention. This is exhausting and unscalable.
To grow, you need to build a Menu.
Service vs. Product
Service (Vague): "I do copywriting." Product (Specific): "I write 4 SEO-optimized blog posts per month (1000 words each) for $1,200."
A product has:
- Fixed Scope: Clear boundaries on what is included.
- Fixed Price: No guessing.
- Fixed Timeline: "Delivered in 5 days."
How to Define a Product
Look at your last 5 invoices. What did you actually do?
You didn't just "design." You:
- Set up a Figma file.
- Designed a Home page.
- Designed an About page.
- Did 2 rounds of revisions.
- Handed off assets.
That is a product. Call it "Core Web Design Package."
Break it down into line items.
- Item 1: UX Wireframing ($1,000)
- Item 2: UI High Fidelity ($2,500)
- Item 3: Asset Export & Handoff ($500)
Building Your Library
In Manager List, your Library is your menu.
Don't just add "Consulting - $100/hr." Add:
- "Site Audit (Video Walkthrough)" - $300
- "1-Hour Strategy Workshop" - $500
- "Monthly Maintenance (Basic)" - $200/mo
Populate your Library with these "LEGO blocks." When a new client comes, you aren't inventing. You are just assembling the LEGOs.
The Benefits of the Menu
- Faster Proposals: Drag and drop from your library.
- Easier Sales: Clients understand "I get X for $Y." It's tangible.
- Better Margins: As you get faster at delivering the "Standard Blog Post," your hourly rate effectively goes up, even if the price stays the same.
- Delegation: You can hire a junior to do the "Asset Export" task because it is clearly defined.
Conclusion
You can still do custom work. But make "Custom" an item on the menu, priced at a premium.
For everything else, standardizing is the key to sanity.