In creating your value proposition, it's good to know the basic principles. But then when you start actually start doing the work, you need to have a foundation of knowledge. And that's the research part. So in the last section, we gave you an exercise about writing down some of the components of your business that would fit into the value equation. So that's one piece of it, just to kind of start to get your universe and the language in it that's applicable to value proposition or value thinking started on paper. But it doesn't mean that it's going to help you figure out if your processes are actually creating value or not, or if what you're producing is actually getting that value out to market.

In order to do that, you're going to have to research a number of things. And the first thing here is your own process. And what I would say to do is capture your process information. There's another Skillshare course on our channel you should check out called process storytelling that actually talks about how to capture structure and visualize process information. But for now, just know that capturing and visualizing process information the right way, is going to give you a very usable process map. And the process map is a process asset that's going to show you the sequence who's doing activities where they're being done, how they're being done.

And from here, one would posit, or one should know, I should say that the value creation is embedded in there, you have a workflow, or you have a process map that shows what's being done in the physical world, what you're doing with your hands, where you're spending your energy, how you're spending your time and attention during the day if you're working. And then the value creation is inherent in that if the customers are buying something from you, you're creating value. So the first thing is capture a baseline and start writing it down. The second part of research is talking to your customers. You know, this should seem pretty, I guess, common knowledge now, especially as the business world moves towards more towards customer centricity, but the customers know what they're asking for. And it might not be the value, but they will tell you what they want and the first part of driving The value or applying the value equation to the customer situation is talking to the customers, I guarantee that you're not going to be able to very easily derive the entire customer outlook without speaking to your customers.

So reading the reviews, creating surveys, pulling them, reaching out creating more interfaces for interactivity with your company, calling people up having conversations, networking about your business, or service or product or like products, get out there and talk to the customer. So this is another huge form of research that sometimes can seem like a pain, but it's going to be the easiest way to figure out what your customers are buying from you from a value perspective. And this next comment is, what if you're just starting out? So a lot of folks who are aspiring to make a business? How does this apply to you if you don't have customers and you don't have business processes? Well, this is part of your planning.

If you're going to plan a business, you can be ahead of the game by actually just starting to do the exact same steps with your process with your customers, but just simulated some of the process matters. perspective, what should the process be. And honestly, outside of this value conversation, I would definitely encourage you to do this anyway, if you're starting a business, understand your processes and get the maps. So you can start to get your head around the reality of how complicated business can be even if you have a simple idea. Once you start mapping processes, you'll figure out that there's a lot going on. But in any case, map the business you want.

Talk to the customers you want, and see what they want. You don't have to actually be engaged as a business with folks to get feedback from them. So same steps, kind of a different flavor, but it still applies, especially if you're trying to sniff out value in the marketplace before you start a business. So in this section, we have another exercise where it would be encouraged to pause the training and do some reflection. And this is where you choose a product or service that you offer. And you start capturing the process and customer data on it.

So just exactly what we just said for research. Think about what you're selling a particular thing and practice what is the value in the thing you're selling. For instance, if you're selling coffee watches? I'll tell you the clue the value is not that you're selling a watch a watch is just the thing. What is it that the thing gives the customer? That's the benefit in excess of their cost?

Is it that they have easy access to time? Is it a fashion thing? Is it a status symbol? Is it something they can show off to their friends are so people know they have money? There's a lot of different aspects of value that are not inherent in the actual product itself. So you need to pick anything that you sell it service being product, and go out there and map how it's created.

So where's the actual value being created in that service or product in your own internal operation? And then go talk to the customers and see what they're actually buying from you. And this is where it's good to take time to reflect. Do you notice any patterns or surprising information there? This is the start of the value hunt. So once you reflect on that we can move to the next part of sort of the life cycle which is analyzing that research data.