Unlock Your Genius Zone

The entrepreneur’s guide to selling before creating | Create cashflow injections to buy back your time | Ep. 58

• Ine-Wilme Coetzee • Episode 58

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Ever felt stuck in the endless cycle of perfecting your offer, only to launch to crickets? In this eye-opening episode, I reveal why the "create first, sell later" approach is holding you back from the cash flow your business needs to thrive. I share my own journey: spending 19 months creating a course that made less than $1,000 versus launching a program in just 22 days that generated 17x more revenue per unit. You'll discover the fascinating psychology behind why customers actually PREFER to be part of the creation process and how companies like Buffer acquired paying customers before writing a single line of code.

Whether you're just starting out or looking to launch a new offer in your existing business, this episode will transform how you think about product development and sales. I break down my complete 5-part framework for pre-selling your offers and explain exactly how to implement this strategy with complete transparency and integrity.

By the end of this episode, you'll understand why the most successful entrepreneurs sell before they create, and how this approach not only generates immediate cash flow but actually leads to higher customer satisfaction and better products.

Key Highlights:

  • Why 80% of businesses fail due to "no market need" and how pre-selling eliminates this risk
  • The "Ikea Effect" - why customers value products more when they're part of the creation process
  • How to create a minimal sales mechanism to start selling immediately
  • Real-world case studies of billion-dollar businesses built on the pre-sell approach

Join my exclusive "Sell Before You Create" workshop on May 13th, 2025! After registering, you’ll get my 8-step checklist to create your minimum viable product, plus special bonuses for live attendees including my 3x1 pre-launch formula to prepare you AND your audience for what’s coming. (Imagine launching your new offer to people who are primed to buy…!)

Spots are limited - register now at https://www.innervoiceinstituteofmusic.com/workshop-registration

Podcast intro music: J.S. Bach Cello Suites, Suite No. 3 in C major, Prelude 
Musician: Mari Coetzee 

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Speaker 1:

Have you ever wondered if you could sell your offer before you create it? That is what we're talking about today, because I know what it's like to start a new business. I know what it's like to sell a new offer, and the reality is is it feels like there's this massive barrier when what you really want is for your people to constantly have these light bulb moments that your offer is exactly what they need, so that you really can have the cash flow you want in order to really scale your business right. So we are going to go through a couple of different ways why selling before creating is actually the way to go. Welcome back to the show.

Speaker 1:

This is the Unlock your Genius Zone podcast. I'm your host, ina Wilmichitsia, and it is an honor to me that I get to speak into your life today, into your business. Whether you're watching on YouTube or you're just listening to the podcast, I hope you can hear the warmth in my voice, because I want you to succeed, I want you to win, and selling your offer before you create it is actually one of the ways you can do so. Now you might be thinking now isn't that a little bit backwards? Shouldn't I perfect my offer first? Shouldn't I know exactly what is entailed? Shouldn't I have all the modules filmed? Shouldn't I have all of these, all my ducks, in a row, before I actually sell and before asking people to pay for it? And that's actually exactly, maybe, the thing that's holding you back. So we're going to talk about the mindset shifts that are needed to really create a new beginning for your offers, because right now, as this video is being published, it is May 2025. It is basically spring. I live in Canada, so it is definitely the beginning of spring, and spring is all about new beginnings. So you probably feel this excitement in the air. The weather is getting warmer and there's no better time to challenge the conventional wisdom of creating something than selling it, and, in fact, some of the most successful companies always sell before they create. I'm going to go through a couple of my favorite examples here, so let's dive in.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so first of all, we're going to talk about the traditional approach versus the pre-sell approach. I have a bit of a story to tell you, because I've experienced both. So I wanted to become an entrepreneur when I was 18. I started a selling skincare business, like network marketing. It set me up really well for some good sales skills, but I didn't really feel the passion of it. I wanted my own business. I wanted my own offers.

Speaker 1:

I am a professional cellist. You can probably see my cello is right back there. You've probably heard me play the cello in previous videos and if you haven't, I'll make sure to link one right here. Anyways, I'm a professional cellist and I thought, well, I am teaching the cello to people every single day. What if I create a beginner cello course, like? I had heard that the online education industry was going to go up to I think it was 32 billion by the end of 2030. And I had a goal to have a million dollar business before the end of 2030. So I thought, well, this is a no brainer, I need to get into this.

Speaker 1:

Exactly A year later, had I created that course? Nope, I had only written out a couple modules. I had continued teaching one-on-one because that was the safe option, and I thought I had to have this beautifully created course with everything filmed before I could even start selling. Okay, we fast forward seven more months, and we are now. Okay, we fast forward seven more months and we are now let's see 19 months into the process of creating this idea and I decide, okay, I am ready, I am ready to present this to the world. I made exactly $992 for 19 months of work. I think I figured out my hourly rate and it was just a couple cents per hour. If that, I need to go do the math again, because it was ridiculously low.

Speaker 1:

Now what if I had followed the approach that I did? Last November? I had an idea and I was literally in a sales conversation 23 minutes after the idea came to mind. I was making it up on the spot based on what I knew was my expertise, what I knew I could help people, the passion I had, and then the person that I was talking to, her problem, what she wanted her business to look like. And lo and behold, 22 days later, I had my first sale. Now, the crazy part about this was I made 17 times more per unit that launch back in November, the first time I launched my business coaching program, versus when I launched my first course, that one summer in 2022. That is absolutely mind blowing.

Speaker 1:

And this particular offer I am still selling before it's perfect. It is nowhere near where it's going to be. In maybe six months it's going to be even better than it is right now, but what I do know is that by selling before creating, I am now able to invest in upgrading my virtual assistance contract so that I can free up more of my time. I can now invest in marketing advice, like marketing, consulting, all sorts of things because I have the cash flow to actually grow it. So that story I do not want you to go that traditional approach where you create this beautiful thing that you think you love and that other people are going to love, but they don't have the light bulb moment of where they know that it's for them. I ran out of time the other day when I started filming this video. So here I am again. Disruption follows intention, as one of my favorite entrepreneurs always says. So here I am. We are finishing up the video.

Speaker 1:

So where we left off was the science behind pre-selling. Why does it work so well? It's actually rooted in behavioral economics and consumer psychology. So have you ever heard of the entrepreneur named Eric Ries? He is the founder of the Lean Startup Method and he popularized the concept of the minimum viable product, or MVP as I'm going to call it today. His research actually showed that businesses who implemented the minimum viable product model actually had an 80% higher success rate when they were then to launch their product the full version, in fact they were 80% more likely to succeed long-term. And let's actually go deeper than that Not only had they an 80% higher chance of success, long-term customer satisfaction actually went up. It's called something, it's actually called the IKEA effect. When the consumer built the product along with the developer, along with the entrepreneur or the business that they bought it from, they were more satisfied, they were more invested and it was actually an indicator of higher customer success.

Speaker 1:

And I know that that's what you want. You went into business to see transformations in other people, to solve very specific problems. So what if there's a way where you could actually inject cashflow into your business and increase customer satisfaction at the same time, where it actually complimented each other instead of weighing each other down? So let me give you a real world example. There's this company called Buffer. Their founder, joel Gascoigne, actually wrote not even one line of code until he had paying customers. All he did was create a simple landing page that described what his product would do. He added a pricing button and when people clicked it, they saw a message that the product wasn't quite ready yet. But the most amazing part is that they signed up anyways. They wanted to get on the waiting list because they believed in his vision, they believed in his mission and they saw value in the way he was presenting his dream, presenting his idea. Now the best part is, within seven weeks he had enough paying customers to actually build a product 10 X better than it would have been if he had created the entire thing from the get-go, only to find out that people didn't even want it.

Speaker 1:

So this isn't just me saying this. This is honestly one of the best ways for you to ensure your business for long-term success. So another article that I read was actually on CB Insights Analysis. They analyzed 101 startup failures and found out that the number one reason why businesses would fail was because they would say there was no market need. Pre-selling eliminates this problem. You get to see if there's a market need and a market fit for your offer before you actually put in the 80% of the work that actually creates the product. It's pretty incredible.

Speaker 1:

So in the beginning of this video, I told you about the story where I started to try to launch something. I spent seven months creating it and then only made a thousand dollars. Less than that even didn't even break four figures. And the question that I want to ask you today is what if there was a better way? What if you could actually create an offer after you sell it? This is exactly what I did last October. I actually created an offer in 22 days, and this was based on the conversations that I had been having with people for several months beforehand, kind of integrating what they were telling me. I didn't create a single module. I didn't even have a sales page when I launched this offer. All I had were conversations, and in fact, I'm actually going to go much deeper into that story when I host my next workshop. It's going to be about selling before creating, and you will actually get to learn the exact process that I went through to create this offer and sell it just in 22 days, and it is now producing the same amount of revenue in just a four month period as my business made the entire 2024.

Speaker 1:

It's incredible how this works, and the best part is is every single client going through this program. They get to experience a updated, brand new version of it every single time, because I take the foundations that I built the first time and I make it better every other time after that, so it actually keeps people coming back. That is the ultimate benefit that I've been finding with selling before creating is, people are coming back for more because they were a part of that creation process. They believe in the creation process and they know that they were important enough to you to create something for them, for their specific problem, and that is really what people want. They want to be seen, they want to be cared for, and you have a unique opportunity to do so. Actually, in the next couple of weeks, make sure you grab your spot for that workshop. You are going to absolutely love it. You're going to walk away with a plan, a very, very clear plan. I want you to have clarity as you're in that workshop and I can't wait to see you there. But because I want to give you the good stuff, I'm actually going to give you a five-part framework right now how you could implement this in your business today.

Speaker 1:

So step number one identify the problem. Get as clear as you can. In fact, use the people's wording that you're actually talking to on a daily basis. Use their wording. Get incredibly clear on the problem you are solving. Number two what is the transformation. Think about what is the before, what is the after. What are you really guiding people towards? Who would be your ideal client in this scenario? Like what problem are they facing that you could provide a transformation? Get incredibly clear on what this transformation looks like. Like are you taking them from A to Z over the course of two years? Are you taking them from A to B over the course of one month? It all depends on your specific transformation, the thing that lights you up and that people really need.

Speaker 1:

Step number three is create a minimal sales mechanism. So this is very similar to our minimum viable product, but it's based on how we get people into that container. So, for instance, this could be a checkout page on Kajabi. That is, honestly, the only thing that I had when I started selling Innovation Incubator, the offer I created in October and you know what? I actually didn't even have the checkout page until my first client said yes, I'd like it, send me the page. So I then quickly compiled it together and sent it off to her. So, honestly, the only thing that I had was my sales skills. That was my minimum viable product, or minimal vibe. That was my minimal sales mechanism, was one-on-one conversations and I created the checkout page when I needed it, so it can be as simple as that.

Speaker 1:

I do have a high risk tolerance, so not everyone is comfortable to be selling without even some sort of checkout page in place. But figure out what you need. Think about what would make you feel comfortable to start selling. Think about that and write down your list, start creating those pieces and, in fact, if you need help with this, I'll be actually answering questions in the workshop. So make sure you save your spot. I'm going to reiterate this multiple times in this video because I don't want you to miss out on the chance of having another person's eyes on your idea, on your minimum viable product, on your minimal sales mechanism. So, needless to say, you're going to love the coaching element.

Speaker 1:

Okay, number four and this is honestly one of the most important ones is set a date in the future. When I first set up my offer, my business coaching offer, I knew I wanted it to be four weeks long, or at least at that point it was four weeks long, and I had thought of it at the end of October. Now I also knew that December 20th was my cutoff date for any kind of coaching engagements or any sort of work. I wanted a solid three weeks off for Christmas, so I backtracked and that meant that November 22nd was going to be the start date of this cohort. That November 22nd was going to be the start date of this cohort, so on November 1st I launched it, and actually no end of October like October 26th I started talking about it and the 19th of November, I believe, or whatever 22 days later is, I got the first sale. But I had a date in mind because then I had a deadline to which to create the sales. They had a deadline in order to sign up and it really created structure and pressure to sell. Well, so as a general rule, you could give yourself four to six weeks. That is often ideal. Start selling and then create as you deliver.

Speaker 1:

And number five is pre-sell with complete transparency. Be honest about the fact that they're going to get to create it alongside you and honestly, that has been one of the biggest dominant buying motives like reasons why people join my programs is because they know it's going to be created for them. And the cool thing is is humans have so many patterns that I have broken it down into eight different modules, eight different steps that you can actually go through to get from zero to launching your cut your, your offer and actually getting your first customer. So it's simply because of the patterns I'm finding in every single client I talk to. They all have to kind of go through the same sequence. They all have to kind of go through very similar steps. The coaching is where it's customized. So it's fascinating how this happens. So don't be worried about telling them it's not ready yet or anything like that. Just be honest, because the co-creation is what many clients prefer. They love that approach. They really do.

Speaker 1:

Did you know that Sarah Blakely, the founder of Spanx, actually used this approach when starting her billion dollar company? She didn't manufacture thousands of products. First she created a prototype, her minimum viable product, and then she got feedback from real customers, reiterated it and continued that cycle until she had something scalable, something of value. There really is a way you could do this. Now, if you're thinking, you know this sounds amazing, but I need more guidance on how to implement this, I have some great news for you, something very special.

Speaker 1:

What is in the works right now is a brand new workshop. I've mentioned a couple of times in the video, but here are the details. So it's going to be all about selling before building, and really what that means is identifying your most profitable offer, even if you have multiple ideas, and then I'm actually going to give you my eight step checklist of exactly what you need to have in place before you can start selling. This has given my clients so much freedom, so much clarity to just start getting experience, hopping on sales calls, starting to create content about their offer, and I want you to have that clarity too. So the workshop is happening next week, may 13th. Make sure to save your spot, because if it fills up, I will be closing registration. I want to make sure that everyone in there gets an opportunity to be coached, that you can have your questions answered. Also, I will be offering a couple of special bonuses just to the people who show up live. For instance, one of it's going to be my three by one pre-launch checklist the exact steps that I use during a nurture phase, basically a phase in my business where I'm not actively launching and selling something. I'm simply nurturing the people that I do have so that they know that they're cared for and I know exactly how to help them when the time comes to sell, so save your spot.

Speaker 1:

Go to the link in the description box or the show notes if you're listening to the podcast, and I will see you there Now. Remember the most successful entrepreneurs they sell before they create. They validate their ideas first with paying customers, and I want you to join their ranks. I want you to have that cashflow injection that you so desperately need, to start buying back your time, to start creating freedom for your family and create the most incredible client experience for the people who are waiting for you.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for watching. Every single view, every comment, every like. Every subscriber means the world to me and, honestly, it means that more of the world can find my channel so that you, alongside hundreds of other entrepreneurs, can be empowered to take action and live your best life. So hit that subscribe button, if you haven't already, and hit the notification bell, and I would love to hear what in this video stood out to you the most. So just leave a comment below and I will absolutely respond If you also, if you have questions, ask them. I will absolutely create more content like this if you enjoyed this video, or just simply answer more questions that you might have. So have a wonderful rest of your day. I'll see you next week.