Like any Friday, I woke up anxiously to see if it’s my turn on Words with Friends. Before I even get to submit my uber redunklous word, I received a text.

“Hi Lawrence! I’m back in LA. I’m coming over.” Joanne requested.

Before my cousin arrived, I got dressed and prepared a soy latte. “What do you want to do today?”

“Anything.”

I pondered… “Well, do you need clothes? We could go to the outlets.”

Joanne giggled. “What?” I asked.

“Well, I never need clothes,” she replied cutely. “But, it sure would be nice to have some new bathing suits for summer.”

What a little genius I thought. I inquired her for permission and she said, “you could quote me.”

From that, here’s the test to see if you’re a luxury business…

Are You a Luxury Business?

About a year ago, I did a presentation on luxury businesses and a photographer got caught up on the fact that luxury businesses are defined by their prices. He outright denied the fact that he was one despite his premium.

It was probably my fault for not being able to articulate my point clearly. A luxury business is not defined by its price.

In fact, you could be free and still be a luxury: Secrets on How to Handle Discounters.

Using Joanne as my example, you only need to ask yourself one question (and there is no middle ground). Which model are you?

  1. I need to have…(clothes)
    (necessity / utility)
  2. It’s nice to have…(Abercrombie & Fitch)
    (luxury)

af model mao zedong

Hopefully, you all picked the #2.

  • I need to have clothes to stay warm, so I’ll get some of Mao Zedong attire, but it would be wonderful to have a sweater from A&F.
  • I need to have flowers and will probably have my family put the bouquets together, but it would be nice to have [someone cool] do it.
  • I need to have my wedding photographed (Uncle Bob), but it would be awesome to have [someone cool] record it.
  • I need to have pictures of my baby growing up, so I’ll learn how to use a DSLR, but it would be phenomenal to have [someone cool] photograph us.

So, don’t undervalue your service. Sometimes, we don’t give ourselves enough credit.

What Defines Value?

All in all, even if your prices barely cover your costs, it doesn’t matter. Value is not based on money.

If prices denoted value, does that mean that my blog posts are worthless since I don’t charge a penny?

  • Comment one example of a “luxury” product you might splurge on.
  • If you found value in this, share via Facebook and Twitter via buttons below. Thanks!

Yours truly,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. I’ve kept Joanne waiting long enough. Time to go to the outlets!

P.P.S. She said, “hi everybody!” 🙂

P.P.P.S. Words with Friends account: Tofulaw. Challenge if you dare.