How to design your Product Line

 "If you’re starting your business, remember this: 

You don’t need a big menu.
 You need a clear menu. 

One category.
 One hero product.
 Few variations.
 Simple pricing.
 Strong packaging. 

That’s how strong businesses are built. 

If you’ve been feeling confused about what to sell —
 this is your sign to simplify. 

And if you need help designing your product line, I’d love to guide you. 

Be Part of my VIP community Chocopreneur circle where your doubts will be heard, and like minded people come along and grow together 

https://chocopreneur-circle-vipgroup.lovable.app

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to She Builds with Heart. I'm your host Lulva Kapadia, a chocolatier, an entrepreneur, and a chocolate business coach. If you are starting your chocolate or baking business, one of the biggest questions you will face is what exactly should I sell? Because the moment you start thinking about products, your mind says, do everything truffles, bars, brownies, hampers, cakes, seasonal items, and suddenly instead of clarity, you feel overwhelmed. So today I'm going to simplify this for you. And trust me, this comes with my own experience because I have been in the zone of creating a lot of things, and it only creates an overwhelming feeling in you. Right? So let's talk about how to design your first product line in a way that is simple, profitable, and scalable. So step one is to start with one category. Now, the biggest mistake we as beginners usually make is we try to sell everything. So instead of selling everything, choose just one category. It can be either chocolates or brownies or tea time cakes or gifting hampers. Your product line should have focus and not varieties. So, because clarity will help you in a production and smooth production flow in branding and also in marketing. Now, step two is choose your hero product. Within that category, choose one hero product. Ask yourself what do I enjoy making the most? What can I consistently deliver well? And what do I want to be known for? So let's say, for example, you can have your signature truffle or maybe a signature chocolate bark or a signature brownie recipe or stuffed dates, you know, any one recipe which is your signature recipe in that particular category which you have selected to go with. Now your next step would be build three to five variations, not 20. So once you have your hero product, you need to create three to five variations around that hero product. So for example, you have chosen category as truffles, and your hero product is the classic dark truffle. Now you can create four to five variations around that classic dark truffle, which can be hazelnut, coffee, orange, almond, um pistachio, something like that. So just keep the menu like very simple and keep it repeatable. This will help you in easier production, better quality control, and faster scaling. Now, step four would be design your price range. So your product line should cover like uh you know entry level, easy to try, something so you when you are launching, launch in a small portion, something which is very attractive as a product and as a price for anyone who wants to try your product for the first time. So this will give you an easy entry level. Then you can have your mid-range, where you know mostly like maximum sale is going to happen in your mid-range category. So your entry level could be under 200, your mid-range could be uh around uh say 350 to 450, and then you can have a premium segment. So this will allow you to cater to different customers, increase average order value. The next step would be the fifth step, would be think packaging from day one. So don't design product first and packaging later. You have to think together. So, like uh, you know, is the packaging gifting friendly or is it easy to transport? Does it look premium? All these factors need to come in the particular category and the hero product that you have selected. Next step would be design for your customer. So this is important. Um don't ask what do I want to make, ask what does my customer want to buy. So am I targeting my customers for gifting or trying small quantities or looking for healthy options? So your custom your product line should solve a customer need. Next step would be keep it operationally simple. So your first product line should be easy to produce, easy to store, easy to repeat, and low wastage. You should always avoid complex items, too many ingredients, and high failure products. If you are starting your business, uh just remember this: you don't need a big menu, you need a clear menu. One category, one hero product, few variations, simple pricing, strong packaging. That's how strong businesses are built. If you have been feeling confused about what to sell, this is your sign to simplify. And if you need help designing your product line, I'd love to guide you. Until next time, start simple, stay focused, and always build with heart. You can share this podcast with anyone you feel can relate to this, and you can sign up for my community by clicking on the link below in the description. I'll see you in the next episode.