What are you selling?

I have recently finished Seth Godin's latest book, The Icarus Deception (which is not good btw), and it has led me to conjure on the most basic business question: What are you selling? And I mean this in the most absolute, rock bottom sense of the question. No marketing. No advertising. What is it that you are selling?

For some reason, the question immediately led me to the thought of, "What is Starbucks selling"? How has Starbucks been on such an incredible tear opening thousands of stores a year? Starbucks sells the second most traded commodity in the world, coffee. And it's just that, a commodity. Anyone, anywhere in the world can obtain the exact same beans, roast them and brew them exactly the same as Starbucks and have the same quality of product. What is Starbucks selling?

It's truly an incredible thought. With most of the things or services you purchase in a day, your focus is on price, quality, experience etc. There are quantitative measures that you go through (even if they are subconscious) to come to a rational decision. But why do you wait in the drive thru at Starbucks to get a generic cup of hot water that you could get at any coffee shop in the country? Why do people flock to Starbucks?

Starbucks doesn't sell coffee. Coffee is just the medium through which Starbucks sells the brand. This is a very important point. No matter what line of business you are in, you're not just selling the product, you are selling the brand, you are selling yourself. Howard Shultz lives and dies by coffee. He is the most iconic, inspired coffee drinker of all time. He sold himself and in turn sold everyone on Starbucks.

For me, this is a major revelation. I am all but over the current business we are in. Mentally, I'm just checked out and ready to start anew. Everyone I've encountered has asked me, "Well what's next?". I've avoided all their questioning because I really haven't given it much thought. Certainly, there will be a "next" idea but I don't know what it is. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what it is. With this knowledge in hand, I could sell anything I am passionate about. The medium doesn't matter, it's the message that matters. And that is, "What you are selling". It's not a product or service, it's the message or feeling that that product conveys to the end user. Harness that feeling and you can sell anything.