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What Are Products and Services?
Before you start building your solution, you need to decide: will your entrepreneurial idea be a product or a service?
Understanding the difference between these two is an essential step in turning your idea into a real business.
A product is a physical or digital item that is made and then sold to customers. Products are tangible — you can touch, hold, or download them.
Examples of products:
- A handmade piece of jewellery
- A mobile app
- A bag of organic granola
- A printed book
A service is an action or experience that is performed for a customer. Services are intangible — you can't hold a service in your hands.
Examples of services:
- Tutoring a student in math
- Mowing someone's lawn
- Designing a logo for a small business
- Coaching a sports team
Why Does It Matter?
The type of solution you choose — product or service — will affect almost every part of your business:
- How you create and deliver it
- How you price it
- How you market it
- What resources you need
Some businesses offer both products AND services. For example, a hair salon provides a service (cutting hair) but might also sell products (shampoo, conditioner). Many tech companies provide a software product AND customer support services.
In the next few lessons, we'll explore the key differences between products and services in more detail.