Value as a proposition...

Value as a proposition...

One reads and hears a lot about the “value proposition” in a service or product.  Seems to me the proposition part is superfluous— the value is there or it’s not.  It’s the reason to buy or not.  Nevertheless, I hope the value proposition of the SoapStandle is evident… and there are a number of avenues in which that value can be realized. 

  • As trivial as it may seem, people really don’t like gooey soap, and if there’s a way to avoid it, why not?  
  • Making the bar of soap last longer probably isn’t a big deal (soap is cheap, right? - unless you’re buying expensive soap) but if there’s a way for it not to go to waste down the drain, isn’t that good?
  • What's DEFINITELY a big deal is the amount of plastic that gets introduced into landfills and oceans.  The plastic packaging of liquid soap is a big contributor to that… as well as the microbeads in a lot of the liquid soaps.  And a ton of people actually like the way bar soap ‘finishes’ on their skin a lot more than liquid, but just don’t like the gooey soap bar — or soap dish, or shower tray.  Now there’s a way to have the best of both.

So, there are a few of the Value Props… you may come up with others.  But people that have used the SoapStandle for a while now just simply say, “why wouldn’t you use it?”

(My favorite phrase over the last couple of years in the financial industry is “in that context” — what happened to neighborhood… area… ballpark… neck of the woods?  But context is so much more… contextual.)

I went on safari without a camera…

I went on safari without a camera…

…which I admit is a pretty stupid thing to do.  

It’s not quite as bad as it sounds… i have a pretty good SLR with a decent telephoto lens, but in assembling things for the trip discovered the lens was damaged.  Don’t want to buy a new one if it’s unnecessary -- I think it can be repaired, but not in time for the trip.  So I bought a cool - fantastically reviewed - little point and shoot Sony that has pretty decent telephoto capabilities — especially for something so small, and it’s so much easier to carry around / deal with than the bigger one / lenses, etc.  It’s great.  But — since it has a screen on the back instead of an eyepiece viewfinder, it uses a lot of battery.  A lot more than I realized, and I was out in a Land Rover in Botswana’s Okavango Delta when I discovered it.  And the charger was in the other bag we had left behind at the small airport… so the next morning… and afternoon… and the following morning and afternoon… I went on safari without a camera.  

But here’s the good part.  We had terrific binoculars, and I know I spent more time actually looking closely at cool stuff because I wasn’t fooling with getting a “good shot.”  But the best part is that our guide is also a professional wildlife photographer, and his camera / lens / opportunity is better than I’ll ever have - and he generously allowed me to download his photos from our time with him-- and my wife's i-Phone takes terrific photos.

Sometimes things just work out.

Tasty... and they're thinking.

Tasty... and they're thinking.

San Pellegrino Limonata.  It’s really refreshing, but that’s not why I’m bringing it up… it’s just that foil top.   Underneath is a conventional pop-top just like every other soft drink in the world’s aluminum can, but the foil is such a nice touch.  Whatever dust / dirt / grime (and you can imagine a lot of worse stuff from something crawling around in a warehouse or on a loading dock) is on the top of a Coke or Dr. Pepper or Fanta or Heineken — it’s not on the SanPellegrino can.  The top of the can, where your lips go (the highway to your intestinal tract) is protected in the SP world.  Nice.  Thoughtful.  And I’m confident a little more expensive.  

I hope in the SoapStandle world we can do things that are nice.  Thoughtful.  Even if they’re a little more expensive.